1 F 549 
;|.Q6T5 






•- %<<■' -MS:: \/ 

r.'JL' ■>. O 








:, -^^o? »% 











: ^^..^^ yM£\ \r /jitev %<^^ :> 




. :^^. -v'^^./ -o^^W:^%o'> v^/ %'^^\^' V'- 
-^.^^ •'^' \<^'' 'M^' \/ .' jfe'- %.^'' y^^^^'^ v./ /:^fe'v V. 















.*' ..-•» *. 



"oV" 










«^ •.;-.• .«'*• 





,0^ o » • • • ^ -*5 











/%. ■•-^■•y** ■••^•\/'\ '•.ffiK--y% ■••^•" ^ 



0* ^ 



0^ .LlL'. ^> 






^^-'-^^ ,^ 









O « O , 



o > 















Tr,-' ,0^ 






V^*^-' A°\.. . V^-'* ^^^ . . . v*^-\^°\.. . V*" 







i- ■'--/ -'Site-- **«*'•• A- %/ 







%" 

V % 






HISTORY 



OF THE 



City of Ouincy, Illinois 



BY 



GEN. JOHN TILLSON 



Revised and Corrected by 

HON. WILLIAM H. COLLINS 

I 

By direction of the 
Quincy Historical Society 




PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY BY 

THE S. ). CLARKE PUBLISHING CO. 

CHICAGO 




HISTORY OF OUINCY 



By GEN. JOHN TILLSON 



CHAPTER I. 

••ILLINOIS COUNTRY." CONTESTS FOR ITS POS- 
SESSION. EARLY POLITICAL HISTORY. AN 
OUTLINE SKETCH OF ITS HISTORICAL SET- 
TING, MAY PROPERLY INTRODUCE A HISTORY 
OP THE ••GEM CITY." 

"What was known as the "Illinois Country" 
for the ninety years which intervened between 
the early French discoveries and the surrender 
of the region to the Engli.sh, in 1763, was 
bounded hy the Mississippi on the west, by the 
river Illinois on the north, by the Ouabaehe 
(Wabash) and Miamis on the east, and the Ohio 
on the south. The Act of Congress defining the 
boundaries of the State, included all the terri- 
tory west of the Illinois to the ^Mississippi, and 
north to what is now the Wisconsin line. Thus 
the site of the present city of Quincy was in- 
cluded in the State of Illinois. 

The French explorers were the first to visit 
the "Illinois Country" and for nearly a cen- 
tury, they held undisputed possession. Spain 
held a claim to the whole region, but it was 
feeble, and she was kept too busy elscAvhere, to 
make it good, and in 1763. she relincinished it. 
The country at this time, passed under the au- 
thority of the Bi'itish crown. England held it 
for fifteen years. In 1778, General (ieorge 
Rogers Clarlc. in command of a small, but gal- 
lant army, took possession of it for the colony 
of Virginia. At the close of the war of the Rev- 
olution, England, by treaty, sui'rendered for- 
ever her claims to supremacy. 

Virginia had already in 1780. ceded to the 
Confederate colonies all her acquired rights as 
concjuerer: and made the deed of cession, and 
relinquishment by the celebrated ordinance of 
1787. During the preceding nine years, a sort 
of quasi sovereignty, pai'tially recognized and 
less enforced, had been asserted by Virsrinia. 
The entire country north of the Ohio and east 
of the IMississippi had been, in October 1778, 



formed into the "County of Illinois," and Col. 
John Todd was appointed "Lieutenant Com- 
mandant." He was invested with a blended 
military and civil authoi-ity, which he exer- 
cised, nominally, until his death at the noted 
Blue Lick battle in 1782. After him a French- 
man, Timothy Montlrun by name, appears to 
have been vested with whatever of authority 
was exercised in Virginia. 

In 1787, Congress assuming control of the 
country, embracing what is now the States of 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wiscon- 
sin, entitled it the "North-west Territoiy" and 
elected General Arthur St. Clair its Governor. 
In 1790, Governor St. Clair declared all that 
country lying between the Wabash, Ohio and 
Mississippi rivers and an east and west line 
about on the pai-allel of the present site of 
Bloomington, Illinois, the County of St. Clair, 
Cahokia being the county seat. Five years 
later, in 1795. all south of the present county 
of St. Clair was set off and called Randolph 
county. These two counties constituted all of 
Illinois as organized, until 1812. 

In 1800 (May 9th) Congress divided the 
Xorth-west Territory. All west of what is now 
the State of Ohio, was declared the territory of 
Indiana. The population at the beginning of 
this century, of what now constitutes four great 
states, was estimated at 4875 whites; 135 negro 
slaves, and about 100,000 Indians. William H. 
Harrison (afterwards President of the United 
States) was appciinted Govei-nor. and Vincennes 
w;is selected as the territorial capital. Gov- 
ernor Harrison's administration was vigorous 
and successful. During his first five years, he 
concluded ten treaties with the various Indian 
tribes, extinguishing their title and securing 
the cession of their lands to the Ignited States. 
By the treaty of November 3rd. 1804. made 
with the Sanks and Foxes he received from 
thorn the siiiTciider of all the land between the 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



Illiuois and ilississippi rivers (embracing tlie 
"Military Tract") to which this tribe laid 
claim and the greater portion of which they held 
in possession. On the 3rd of February," 1809, 
Congress formed the territory of Illinois in- 
cluding what is now the states of Illinois and 
Wisconsin. This was the first Federal recog- 
nition of the name Illinois, although following 
the action of the Virginia colony in 1778, the 
term "Illinois" had been in popular use, gen- 
erally applied to all the northwestern country. 
The word "Illinois" is a French perversion of 
the name claimed by the Indian tribe. M'hich at 
the time of the French advent, controlled the 
principal portion of Avhat now forms the state. 
Afterward, overborne and crowded southward 
by superior numbers, it passed out of existence. 
The various reuniants to the last retained their 
original name, "Leui," or "Illini," as the 
French pronounced it. It is the general Algon- 
quin term for "superior men." 

The population of the new territory in 1809, 
was estimated to be about 9.000 whites and 
somewhat less than 50,000 Indians. 

An imperfect census taken in 1810. returned 
11,501 Avhites. 168 slaves, and 613 "mixed" ex- 
clusive of Indians. 

Kaskaskia became the capital of the infant 
territor.y. Settlements were sparse. They lay 
along the Mississippi from about Kaskaskia to 
near the mouth of the Missouri ; up the Kas- 
kaskia or Okaw river for a short distance; 
skirting the Ohio river and running up the 
Wabash beyond Vincennes, by far the larger 
portion of the inhabitants, being of French 
birth or exti'aetion. 

Beyond the lines above named, the Indians 
held almost undisputed control. Ninian Ed- 
wards was appointed territorial Governor, an 
ofSce which he retained, by .successive re-ap- 
pointments, until the territory became a state. 
He was a gifted, brilliant, imposing man, far 
superior to most of his piiblic associates, and 
while his positive nature created for him al- 
most constant political conflicts, his position, 
high character, and admitted ability, kept liim 
until the day of his death, more than any other, 
the representative man of Illinois. 

The first delegate to Congress was Shadrach 
Bond. 'a popular man of fair native ability. He. 
in 1814. was succeeded by Benjamin Stephen- 
son. Nathaniel Pope (Territorial Secretary) 
succeeded Stephenson in 1816. 

Pope was afterwards made United States 
District Judge. He held the office until his 
death, in 1850. 

Randolph and St. Clair were the two original 
counties, but in 1812 Johnson. Gallatin and 
Madison were formed. The latter comprehend- 



ing all the northern portion of the State. Sub- 
sequently other counties were formed in the 
southern part of the territory until 1818, the 
number amounted to fifteen. Congress on the 
18th of April, 1818, acceding to the applica- 
tion made by the territorial legislature in the 
preceding winter, passed a bill admitting Illi- 
nois into the I'nion as a State. The constitu- 
tional convention representing the fifteen coun- 
ties, met at Kaskaskia in July of the same year 
and completed the constitution on the 26th of 
August, 1818. It was not submitted to the peo- 
ple but went into effect immediately. 

At the first State election September. 1818, 
Shadrach Bond was chosen Governor and 
Pierre ilenard. Lieutenant Governor, without 
opposition. 



CHAPTER II. 

FIRST WHITE MEN TO SEE THE SITE OF THE FU- 
TURE CITY. EXPLORATION OF JOLIET AND 
MARQUETTE. FIRST INHABITANTS. ITS E.^R- 
LIEST COMMERCE. TOPOGRAPHICAL. 

In the month of May, 1673, Louis Joliet and 
Jaques Marqiiette, with five voyageurs in two 
canoes, started from St. Ignace in Lake Michi- 
gan on a tour of exploration. They passed 
through Green Bay and up the Fox Rivers; 
then through Winnebago Lake, thence west- 
ward, crossing a portage into the Wisconsin 
river. They journej^ed down the Wisconsin, and 
on the 17th day of June found themselves upon 
the waters of a great river. To this, they gave 
the name Rio de la Conception. The Indian 
name was, according to some etymologists, 
"]\Ieach Chasseepe." Its signification was 
"gatherer of all M'aters" or "great river." 
Some of the early French explorers gave it the 
name of "Colbert" in honor of their prime min- 
ister. Tlie Indian name of Mississippi has hap- 
pily survived. 

Spanish explorers had seen the river in its 
lower waters, and De Soto had been buried in 
its bosom, but those Frenchmen were the first 
to see it in the higher latitudes. 

It Avas a thrilling moment to these bold ad- 
venturers, when, emerging from the mouth of 
the Wisconsin, their canoes floated upon the 
broad bosom of the swift flowing river. It then 
flowed clear and pure. The plow and spade of 
civilization had not broken up the sloping sur- 
face of its vast water-sheds to pulverize the 
soil and transform it into a muddy torrent with 
every serious rain-fall. Rootlets and leaves 
of the forest and the grasses of plain and 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAJIS COUNTY. 



prairie, caught, filtered and tempered the flow 
of its coutributiuy streams. No city polluted 
it with sewage. Innumerable schools of fish 
swam iu its waters and bred, by countless mil- 
lions, in its quiet sloughs and bays. Its banks 
were lined with virgin forests of elm, sycamore, 
walnut, Cottonwood, oak and pecan. They had 
never echoed to the stroke of the pioneer axe or 
the crack of his rifle. Prairie bottom-lands 
alternated with woodland and stretched away 
on either side to the distant blull's. Islands 
abounded, as now, roofed with a tangle of vines 
anil fringed with drooping willows. Sharply 
deflned against a stretch of forest green oc- 
casionally was seen some tall, dead tree, 
bleached by the storms of many years, lifting 
up its leafless branches, gracefully festooned 
with the green and scarlet of the trumpet-vine. 
The white and blue heron waded the swamps. 
The eagle and the halcyon darting from the 
high over-hanging boughs with a splash, broke 
the mirrored surface of the river. Flocks of 
pelicans covered the low-ljang sandbars, look- 
ing at a distance like banks of snow left by the 
retrealing winter. Herds of bull'alo sought the 
river to slake their thirst and grazed upon the 
grasses of the ad.jacent bottoms. Deer with 
lifted heads and wild eyes gazed for a moment 
upon the voyagenrs and vanished into the 
thickets. Flocks of geese, swan and ducks were 
without number, and upon alarm rose into the 
air with a beating of wings, whicli sounded like 
the roll of thunder. 

Those explorers traded Avith the Indians for 
supplies of maize and venison, Avhile they often 
used the dry breast of the wild turkey, broiled 
upon coals, as a substitute for bread. 

Following the flow of the great river, they 
sought that which was the prime incentive for 
all Ihe dai-ing and enterprise of the age, viz: a 
western water route to the East Indies. Mar- 
quette's joiu-nal tells ns that in thirty days, 
(July 17th t. he reached the mouth of the 
Arkansas, about fourteen hundred miles below 
where lie entered the ilississijjpi ; that during 
this time he nuide a halt of six days, in the 
earlier jiart of his voyage: that during the first 
I'oiir days he .jurneyed 180 miles. This shows 
his avei-age daily travel to have been, not far 
from fifty miles per day. 

While no special mention or description is 
made iu his .iournal that would apply to this 
locality as it does to Alton. Rock Island and 
other points, yet on the rough chart which he 
has left, there is drawn high land at just the 
place on the river where onr bluffs appear. 
Taking all these facts together, his total aver- 
age distance travelled i)er day. time consumed 



and halts made, he probably reached the site 
of the present city about the 1st of July, 1673. 

We can imagine these explorers landing upon 
the bank of the rivei', which now is the wharf 
of Quincy. As their two canoes neared the 
shore, the Indian dogs greeted them with their 
noisy and wolfish yelps, while the brown men, 
women and children rushed forward to see for 
the first time in their lives, the "pale face." 
Undoubtedly, JIarquette asked them about the 
bay. It would have appeared to him as a 
tributary river. Some Indian making a rude 
drawing in the sand with ii slick, would answer 
his inquiries about the geographical features 
of the country, its forests, lakes, sloughs and 
tributary streams. 

At this time they all abounded in fur-bearing 
animals. Jlink, musk-rat, otter, raccoon, wolf, 
fox and beaver were numerous. The Indians 
began to learn that they could exchange the 
products of the trap and the chase, for the 
calicoes, hatchets and trinkets which men fi'om 
the North ottered them iu trade. This was the 
first rude beginning of commercial transactions 
associated with the site of the future city. 

These early inhabitants of the locality dis- 
appeared, and left as memorials of their ex- 
istence, the mounds upon the blnt¥s and a few 
stone hatchets and flint arrow-heads. 

In 1805, Gen. Zebulon Pike was sent by the 
War Department to explore the Mississippi 
from St. Louis to the Falls of St. Anthony. 
He started from St. Louis on Friday, August 
9th, 1805. with a Sergeant, three corporals and 
seventeen privates in a keel boat seventy-five 
feet long. He was provisioned for four months. 
As he passed up the river, he considered the ad- 
vantages of various points for the location of 
Forts. The blutt", on which the city of Warsaw 
was afterwards built, being near the mouth of 
the Des ]\Ioines river, and nearer to the Indian 
country, was selected as being a Ijetter strategic 
point for military purposes than the site of the 
future city of Quincy. There Fort Edwards 
was built. 

In 1813. a military expedition consisting of 
two battalions of mounted rangers, started from 
old Fort Edwards, lying east of the in-esent city 
of Alton, and passing through what is now Cal- 
h.iun County, eanie northward along the river 
to the site of Quincy. Here they struck the 
Indian village and destroyed it. The small 
trading with the French was broken up. 

This cruel attack was. in part, in retaliation 
for some in.iuries some of the frontier pioneers 
had suffered. The Indians were driven north- 
Avard, some of them escaping into Iowa to seek 
revenge afterward, under the leadership of the 
chieftain Black-hawk. The site of the future 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



city again became a wilderness. The only 
human being to break upon its solitude was an 
occasional trapper or hunter, landing from his 
canoe and camping for a night. 

Little can one who today looks upon the 
broad and beautiful area on which our bustling 
city stands, realize the contrast of the present 
scene, with the wild solitude that revives in 
the retrospection of nearlj- a century. One may 
indeed imagine the aspect of the locality, were 
the buildings all removed, the streets aban- 
doned and all tokens of life taken away. But 
permanent changes have been effected ; land- 
scape lines are now gone ; physical features for- 
ever effaced, which, only a few survivors ever 
saw. 

Yeai-s ago, as the first white settler saw it, 
before axe or plough had desecrated nature's 
sanctity, the city was marked by alternations of 
timber and prairie; timber in the ravines, along 
the streams, covering also the crest and river 
face of the bluff's ; and prairie generally on the 
level land and the ridges which separated the 
ravines. The timber was usually heavy except 
near the heads of the ' ' draws, ' ' where it became 
gradually lighter or altogether disappeared. 
The prairie was luxuriant, not with the long 
swamp grass of the bottom lauds, nor of the 
prairies in southern Illinois, but with a grass 
about breast high and very thick. It did not, 
as many imagine reach to the river, or even to 
the verge of the bluffs. Along the river bank 
from what is now known as Broadway to Dela- 
ware, there stood a scattei-ing growth of trees, 
while south of the latter point, the rank, 
luxuriant, almost impenetrable vegetation, com- 
mon to our bottom lands, prevailed. The strip 
of land below the bluffs, and along the river 
was then mvich narrower than at present; the 
hills having been cut and blasted away. From 
Broadway south to Delaware the rock cropped 
out continuously and was always visible at an 
average stage of water. For keel and steam- 
boats, the usual landing place was then and 
long after between Vermont and Broadway; 
probably selected, because the trees here were 
convenient to tie to, and the river plateau was 
broader ; also because they were more sheltered 
from tlie wind. It was easy to get into the 
river again from there, as at that time, the 
point of the "island" lay much higher np than 
at present; in fact the main river channel ran 
directly over, where, is now the highest growth 
of willows on the "Tow Head." 

The present area of the city, was about 
equally divided between timber and prairie, the 
latter slightly predominating. The pi-airie from 
the east threw out four long arms, or feelers, 
as if striving to reach the river; one of these, 



extended as far as Eighth street in what is now 
known as Bei'rian's Addition; a second about 
the same distance on State Street ; a third 
creeping into the heart of the city and narrow- 
ing down, pushed diagonally across the public 
square, nearly to Third Street, and the fourth, 
liroke in about Chestnut and Twelfth, thence 
"with many a winding bout," almost lost at 
times, reached nearly to Sunset Hill. East of 
Eighteenth Street all was prairie save a short 
thicket spur which ran eastward a few blocks 
from the Alstyne ciuarter near Chestnut, and a 
small grove of young trees at what is now High- 
land Park, which has greatly increased in size. 

Between Twelfth and Eighteenth, in John 
^loore's Addition, all excepting a small slice off 
the northwest corner, was prairie. On the south 
side of Gov. "Wood's large field about 18th and 
Jefferson there stood about twenty acres of 
heavy timber, part of which yet may be seen. 
Along the rear of the present residences of 
ilessrs. L. Bull, McFadon and Pinkham, lay a 
small thicket, and a similar shaped strip of 
larger gi'owth, stretched across the Alstyne 
quarter, from near Broadway and Eighteenth, 
to the coi'ner of the Berrian quarter, uniting 
west of Twelfth with the heavy forest in Cox's 
addition. 

To follow the division line between the 
prairie and timber, let one commence in Eigh- 
teenth street on the south line of the city facing 
north. On his right all was prairie, on the left 
timber. The line ran nearly due north almost 
to Jeft'erson street, crossing the latter a little 
west of Eighteenth, pu.shed three or four hun- 
dred feet into Gov. Wood's large field, then 
turned sharply around in a southwesterly direc- 
tion, recrossed Jefferson about Fourteenth, 
crossed Twelfth near Monroe, thence ran 
thi'ough Berrian 's Addition in a direction some- 
what south of west to near Eighth, where 
curving back almost on itself, it enclosed a 
pretty little prairie islet of about ten acres. 
Thence it bore northeasterly, crossing Jefferson 
about Ninth, touching Twelfth (but not cross- 
ing) at Payson Avenue, there swinging around 
toward the west, it followed nearly the line of 
(Ihio to Eighth, then north along Eighth to near 
where Dick's Brewery now stands, thence east; 
irregularly parallel with Kentucky, just touch- 
ing the northeast corner of Gov. Wood's gar- 
den ; here, veering sharply northwest, it crossed 
Twelfth, just north of York, then ran eastward 
nearly to Eighteenth. 

From this point, (Jersey and Sixteenth), it 
turned west again and passing through the 
back pai"t of L. Bull's grounds gradually 
neared IMaine Street so as to take in the Web- 
ster School House, a few of the trees standing 



PAST ANJJ L'KESPLNT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



tliero yet. From tlie coriu-r of IMiiiiie and 
Twi'lt'tli. it ran by a -wavering: line to tlie comer 
of Hampshire and Eiglith. This part of the city 
(Droulard's quarter between Eighth and 
Twelfth) was ent up by ravines running from 
north to south, all of them sustaining thickets 
ot various length, according to the size of the 
i-avine and all jiointing northward. The Post 
Oflice l)uilding .stands on what was prairie, but 
just on the southern edge. The line from thei'e 
ran west, slightly inclining to the south, so as 
to cross the corner of Sixth and Maine street 
diagonally. It passed southwest, touched 
Fifth Street, followed it down on the east side 
as fai- as the Engine House, crossed the street, 
there, leaving Robert Tillson's lot, coi-ner of 
Fifth and Jersej', part in the prairie and part 
in the brush; thence it went southwest to near 
the corner of York and Fourth, crossing Fourth 
at the alley between York and Kentucky. Bend- 
ing then somewhat south, then west, then north 
all in this same block, it reei'ossed York near 
Thii'd. This was the most westerly limit, the 
nearest approach that the prairie made to the 
Viver. Immediately west, across Third Street, 
there lay. embosomed in the thick timber, a 
pretty little pond, a noted resort for wild 
ducks, covering about three acres, its western 
limit reaching nearly to the crest of the bluff. 
Vestiges of this little lake existed as late as 
1840 and later. Long before this the timber 
had disappeared, and the pond was finally 
drained in cutting York Street through to the 
bluff. 

From hen' the jirairie line went back, passing 
north, uji Third to Jersey, thence diagonally 
across l)lock 18, to the corner of ]\Iaine and 
Fourth, thence north along the west side of 
Fourth, with the square (all prairie") on the 
right, it turned across Fourth .jnst north of 
Ilanqishire. struck Vermont at Fifth, passed 
along the southern edge of Jefferson Square, 
about one-third of the square being prairie. 
That portion which was afterward a burying 
ground ci'ossed Broadway near Seventh, still 
running northeast, crossed Eighth, then took 
a nearly direct course to Twelfth. Not cross- 
ing Twelfth, it bore off in an irregular line to- 
wards the northwest, and running almost to 
Sunset Hill, before reaching which, it swept 
around to the right and north, and again east 
and southeast, joining itself to the heavy tim- 
ber in Cox's addition, making in this part of 
the citj' ju.st such a prairie island as we have 
mentioned in Berrian's addition, oidy a greatly 
larger one. 

The natui'al drainage of the city was defec- 
tive entailing no small amount of difficulty and 
expense in providing foi- needed sewerage. The 



reason of this is that along the river front 
the ravines which ran up into the blutf, were 
extremely short, scarcely draining as far east 
as the Public Square, A larger portion of the 
city, especially that most easily settled, was 
drained to the east. 

By far the largest portion of the water that 
fell ran in the water shed inclines toward the 
east instead of direct to the river, and found 
its way there finally through the great ravines 
that seamed the eastern and central portion of 
the place. 

The crest of the bluff inmiediateh' overlook- 
ing the river, scolloped as it was on the western 
face, by these scant ravines was yet highest 
about the line of Second and Third Streets and 
thence toward the east the land descended for 
some distance. The average height of the bluffs 
above low water mark was 126 feet. The crest 
occasionally rose into little conical peaks, in 
many of which bones, weapons, and other re- 
mains of the Indian race have been found. 

The highest among all these was "Mount 
Pisgah. " It stood on the south side of Maine, 
near Second, and was much the highest peak 
on the bluffs, commanding a most attractive 
view of the river and our rich surroundings in 
every direction. Its name was earned first b.y 
the promising prospects it offered, and after- 
wards was kept and claimed, so it is said, from 
the many promises there made, when, in later 
years, it became the trysting place of negotiat- 
ing lads and lassies dui-ing the dusky hours. 

The streets have shorn away its northern and 
western face, the vandal grasp of improvement 
toppled its high head to the dust, the vei-y 
heart of the haughty hill has been washed into 
the waves of the river on which it had frowned 
for centuries but there is many a peruser of 
these pages who will always cherLsh pleasant 
and regretful remembrances of the venerable 
mount. 



CH.VPTER III. 
1821. 

BIOGKAPHICAU JOHX WOOD. WILL.\RD KETES. 
THE FIRST INHABITANTS OF QUINCY. THEIR 
EXPLORATIONS. LEGEND OF "TREASURE 
TROVE." PIKE COUNTS' ORGANIZED. 

Pioneer histoiy musl l)i> mainly biographical. 
It is the record of the actions of individuals. 
Often seemingly insignificant, they lead to re- 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAIMS COUNTY. 



suits of high importance. The pioneer goes into 
the wilderness, often prompted by a restless- 
ness of tempei-ameut, and unconsciously with his 
axe and rifle, help lay the foundations of city 
and state. He builds more wisely and broader 
than he knows. 

But the founders of the city of Quincy, laid 
its foundation with clear conception of, and a 
confident faith in the future of their enter- 
prise. The actions and tlie utterances of our 
pioneers, so far as we have any record of them, 
bear testimony to their firm confidence in the 
ultimate growth and prominence of the city. 
Fortunate it is, that in the later period of their 
lives, they have found solace and satisfaction 
for the trials and hardships of frontier life, in 
the realization of the prosperity for which they 
had long looked and labored. They foimded 
one of the most prosperous and beautiful cities 
in the State of Illinois. 

To Governor AVood belongs the distinction 
of having been the first actual settler of Quincy. 
A native of Cayuga County, New York, coming 
to Illinois in 1S19, in search of a location, he 
met in the winter of that year with Mr. Willard 
Keyes, a Vermonter who, like himself, a single, 
young and adventurous man, was on the look- 
out for a fitting place in which to ' ' settle down 
for life." 

They established themselves in all the roj^al 
independence of a log cabin in the "bottom," 
some thirty miles south of where QUINCY now 
is and resided there for two or three years on 
the northern skirt of settlement, in what was 
then Madison, now Pike County. 

Before anchoring themselves, these two 
men, with others, on the tenth of February, 
1820, started on an exploring expedition 
through the sovithei-u part of the Military 
Tract. This journej- occupied several weeks 
and carried them along the sections next the 
Illinois River as far north as the base line and 
thence east and south towards the junction of 
the two rivei's. "Wood and Keyes wanted to 
\-isit and inspect this place. The published 
maps of the country, defective as thej" were, 
all showed that here was a bluff bank on the 
east side of the river, the only really available 
point north of the mouth of the Illinois for a 
town, that would always be above overflow. 
It so happened, that tlaese poor boys. Wood 
and Keyes, rode borrowed horses, and although 
anxious to go, having at last got in its neigh- 
borhood, to the bluffs of the river which their 
imaginations and conversations had fixed upon 
as the site of a future city, could not persuade 
the older heads of the party to go there, and 
hence, passing through about where now is 
Camp Point, then only a point of timber, jutting 



into the prairie and known as Indian Camp 
Point, and coming in their travel, within about 
twelve miles of QUINCY on their southern re- 
turn, they "put for home," which they reached 
on the first of March, having been eleven days 
on their tour of exploration. This little 
episode indicates how nearly our pioneers came 
to fixing their location some years prior to the 
period of their permanent settlement. Still 
clinging to their original thought, awaiting the 
fitting chance for its development, they oc- 
cupied tliemselves with farming and occasional 
explorations with seekers for land, whom their 
knowledge of the country and skill in wood- 
craft enabled them to efficiently aid. From a 
private journal kept by the father of the writer, 
describing a business tour he had made in 1821. 
from his residence in the southern section of the 
state through the military tract, we copy the 
following allusion to our future city fathers. 

"Passed the night with two young bachelors 
from northern New York. Wood and Keyes by 
name. These young men propose to be pei'ma- 
nent settlers and have all the reqiiisites of char- 
acter to make good citizens, much as Avill add 
to the character of a community and the de- 
velopment of landed values about them." 

It was on one of the land-seeking excursions, 
as above named, in February, 1821, that Wood 
at last struck upon the long-thought-of El 
Dorado. Piloting two men. ]\Iott'att and Flynn, 
in search of a quarter section of land owned by 
the latter, it proved to be the quarter section 
immediately east of and adjoining his present 
residence, on the corner of Twelfth and State 
Streets. The primitive beauties of the location 
touched his fancy ; and he determined that it 
was just what he desired and should be secured, 
if within liis power. The locality we have de- 
scribed in our second chapter. It was a dis- 
appointment to Flynn, who was impressed with 
its loneliness, and said he would not have a 
neighbor in fifty years. He carried away with 
him these feelings of dissatisfaction. On 
Wood's return to his cabin he lost no time in 
pouring into the eager ears of his partner his 
enthusiastic impressions ; and his intention of 
returning to plant himself for life. Catching 
the infection which so blended with his own 
predilections and desires. Keyes, at his first con- 
venience, borrowed a horse from his nearest 
neighbor, eight miles distant, and going up 
alone to look at the promised land and see for 
himself: needed but a single glance to become 
convinced that he need seek no further, or, 
to use his own words, that "not the half had 
been told." He laid out for the night at the 
foot of the bluff near the river, returned on the 
following day. and thenceforth, the purposes 



I'AST AND PRESENT OF ADA:\rS COUNTY. 



II 



of the young adveuturei's were fixed. Their 
home was ehoseu, the site of the future citj' was 
seleetecl aud they Avaited only the opportunity 
to establisli themselves. 

These details are given as indicative of the 
ideas that stimulated our ancestors in their 
settlement of the place. Circumstance, as has 
been seen, conspired to lead them to conceal the 
profound satisfaction which they entertained 
respecting their future home. Wood, it will be 
i"emenibered. was "" tongue-tied" by the pres- 
ence of parties from whom lie expected to pur- 
chase, and before whom it was not judicious 
to too strongly express himself, and whatever 
Keyes may have said or thought, could hardly 
have been remembered and brought awaj' by 
his sole companion, another man's horse. 

The primitive appearance of the place has 
been heretofore portrayed. It was an un- 
broken Avild with no evidences of past perma- 
nent occupation, save the remains of a few rude 
stone chimneys or fire-places on the river bank 
about the foot of Broadway and Delaware 
streets. These were known to be the vestiges of 
the huts erected by French traders who in past 
years had occasionally wintered here, or some- 
times made it a temporary rendezvous in their 
occasional dealing with the Indians. 

There was a tradition connected with the 
locality current among the Indians and fron- 
tiermcn, of a ''treasure trove" that may yet 
start up to the enrichment of some child of 
fortune. 

The story, fully as well authenticated as the 
legends of Capt. Kidd and Aladdin, is. that a 
wealthy Indian trader by the name of Bauvet, 
who lived here about the year 1811. buried two 
kegs of French crowns and was shortly after- 
ward killed by the Indians, leaving the secret 
of his deposit nnrevealed. The proof of this 
story will be established by the finding of the 
crowns. 

The site of Quincy was at this time in Madi- 
son Count.v. 

The Legislature on the 31st of January, 1821, 
formed the county of Pike, embracing all the 
territory between the Illinois and Jlississippi 
rivers, reaching on the north to the Wisconsin 
line. Cole's Grove, now in CaUioim county, and 
.since called Gilead. was the county seat. At the 
same session, February 14rth, a legislative ap- 
poi'tionment law was passed making Pike a rep- 
resentative, and Pike and Greene counties a 
senatoi'ial district. So numerous and sometimes 
so conflicting were the applications for new 
counties, that on the 30th of January, a law 
was passed requiring that all intended applica- 
tions to the General Assembly for the forma- 
tion of counties must be previously published 



twelve times in a newspaper. The only news- 
paper in the country was published at Ed- 
wardsville. John Wood led the movement, 
which after a few years resulted in the forma- 
tion of Adams County. 



CIlAPTEl! IV 



1822. 

JOHJSr W^OODS LOG CABIN THE FIRST BUILDING 
IN QUINCY. SIXTY DOLLARS FOR ONE HUN- 
DRED AND SIXTY ACRES. DANIEL LISLE AND 
JUSTUS PERIGO. THE FIRST SETTLERS IN 
ADAJlIS COUNTY', (THEN PIKE I. FIRST STATE 
ELECTIONS. EFFORT OF THE PRO-SLAVERY 
ELEMENT TO CHANGE THE CONSTITUTION. 

Wood and Keyes had but little difficulty in 
securing from Flynu the "refusal" of the land 
whose fertility and surroundings had so fast- 
ened upon their fancy. Flynn was as zealous to 
get rid of, as they were to acquire it. There 
was, however, a difficulty of another nature and 
one equally important to overcome. It took 
money to buy the land, aud the enormous price 
asked by Flynn of sixty dollars for these 160 
acres, was a fabulous sum to our j-ouug ad- 
venturers. They had, however, twenty dollars 
of their own and a neighbor forty miles away, 
happened to have the forty more to loan them 
and the trade was completed, to the satisfaction 
of all parties, in the summer of 1822. In the 
fall of this year. Wood came up and making 
■'camp" on the bank of the river near the foot 
of Delaware street, commenced the erection of 
the first building within the limits of the pres- 
ent city. Not very pretentious Avas this lone 
structure, no architectural skill elaborated its 
style, no "sealed proposals" heralded its con- 
struction, no scheduled "estimate or written 
contracts," formalized its birth. It was a log 
cabin of the most primitive sort, 20 by 18 feet 
in size, built without the use of a single nail, a 
stranger to the aristocracy of "sawed limiber, " 
clay chinked, with jiuncheim floor, rough stone 
fire place and chimney built of sticks bedaubed 
Avith clay. It Avas truly a Avooden structure 
both in material and maker. With occasional 
aid from his distant neighbors in Pike, especial- 
ly at the "raising." ^Ir. Wood Avas enabled to 
complete his home sufficiently to warrant moA'- 
ing in on the eighth of December, 1822. This 
cabin, long since destroyed, is remembered by 
some of the old settlers. It stood on the south- 
east comer of Front and Delaware streets, 



12 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



facing west. Constructed with more care than 
was usual in those early days, subsequently, 
with additions made, a porch attached, white- 
wash liberally used and surroundings attended 
to, it became noted for an apj^earance of com- 
fort and taste superior to most of the houses 
in the country. 

For the first seven years, its ownership was 
a divided or doubtful one between two claim- 
ants, John Wood, the constructor and occupant, 
and the United States, in which rested the 
ownership of the land. For a while, the gov- 
erninent claim was the only valid one. Although 
Mr. Wood at this time owned the land which 
he had purchased from Flynn and which he 
was now preparing to farm, the first soil, in this 
section broken, by a plow (he was a "squat- 
ter") was on the spot where he lived. Then 
and for some years later, the squatter on unsold 
government land was an intri;der, (in law, a 
"trespasser.") Subsequently, a judicious and 
liberal reversal of the government policy, gave 
to the scpiatter a color of prior claim to the 
ownership of the land on which he had located 
whenever it came into market through the oper- 
ation of the pre-emption laws. E.xcepting the 
patent on bounty lands, all the laud in this sec- 
tion south of the base line was not subject to 
entry or purchase, until 1829. 

At the time of Wood's settlement there were 
but two other white residents within the limits 
of what now constitutes Adams county. These 
were Daniel Lisle (afterwards County Commis- 
sioner) who lived a short distance south of 
where the town of Liberty now stands ; some 
of whose descendants are yet residents in that 
neighborhood, and Justus I. Peri go, an old sol- 
dier who had settled in Section 9. 3 S. 8 W. on 
the quarter section which he had drawn. This 
land joins the well known "Chatten" farm in 
Pall Greek township and was probably the first 
improved, or perhaps we had better say culti- 
vated land in the county. Taking the statement 
reported to have been made by its owner in the 
early times, it must have been in a singularly 
advanced condition of culture for those days. 

The stoi-y is that Perigo, practically con- 
scious of what Adam had been told that it was 
"not well for man to be alone." went for a 
wife in the southern part of the state, and suc- 
cessfully dazzled the fancy of a "confiding fe- 
male" by the representation that he owned a 
farm of one hunclred and sixty acres, on which 
he had two thousand bearing apple trees. Rec- 
ord has not perpetuated ]\Irs. Perigo 's com- 
ments, when, on coming up to the farm, she 
foTind that the two thousand apple trees were 
wild crabs. 

Throughout the succeeding winter, Wood, 



with an occasional assistant, fouud ample em- 
ployment in clearing the premises about his 
cabin, "mauling rails," etc., pi-eparatory to his 
fai'ming operations in the coming year, keeping 
"bachelor's hall" in the single tenement of 
which he was the sole occupant in 1822. 

The elections in August, 1822, had generally 
a fortunate result. Edward Coles was chosen 
governor over three contestants, receiving a 
minority vote, but a larger one than any of his 
competitors. A. T. Hiibbard was chosen Lieu- 
tenant Governor. He afterwards resided in 
yuiney and his remains lie in the "old grave 
yard" now called Jetferson Square. Daniel P. 
Cook was again elected Representative to Con- 
gress by an increased majority over John Mc- 
Lain, his opponent, in 1820. Thomas Carlin, 
afterwards Governor, was elected State Sena- 
tor from the Pike and (;4reene District, embrac- 
ing what is now Adams, and Nicholas Hanson, 
representative to the General AssemblJ^ The 
election of Coles and Cook was an advantage 
to the cause of freedom that can never be over- 
estinuited. They represented, the former es- 
pecially, anti-slavery element in the state and 
to Governor Coles, his position, example, en- 
ergy and efficient action perhaps more than to 
any other man, is due the redemption of Illinois 
from the designs of the slavery propagandists. 
Now. for the first time, fairly entered this fire- 
band into the political arena which it inflamed 
with intense excitement, to the exclusion of all 
other issues, thi'oughout the two succeeding 
years, absorbing all minor questions and draw- 
ing a line of division through the political ele- 
ments on which the political organizations of 
all subsequent time have stood and still exist. 

Jesse B. Thomas was re-chosen I'nited States 
Senator by the Legislature this year. 

Two questions of exciting nature came before 
the General Assembly in 1822 and 1823, and in 
reference to them, the representatives from the 
"Kingdom of Pike," as our huge county, three 
hundred miles long and with an average width 
of fifty miles, was called, became part of a "cu- 
rious piece of political history, wliich has oc- 
casionally been published as an illustration of 
sharp practice in the early days. The seat of 
Nicholas Hanson, representative from Pike, was 
contested by John Shaw, and after an exami- 
nation into the question, Hanson Avas allowed 
the place, as was proper, he having, undoubt- 
edly, been elected. The election for United 
States Senator came on soon after and Jesse B. 
Thomas, the former member, was re-elected. 
Hanson voted for him. The other issue to 
which allusion was made above, then came 
forward. An organized effort was made to in- 
troduce slavery into Illinois. 



AST AM) ri.'KSHXT OF ADA.MS COUNTY 



13 



ForbickU'ii in tlie Const it lit ion of 1818, it 
could only be legalizetl by the I'cvisiou of the 
constitution and in that instrument it was pro- 
vided. th:it. to call a convention for such pur- 
pose twii-iliirds of each branch of the legisla- 
ture, must order an election and the people 
then vote in favor of such call and then the 
lei;islature order, etc. The senate had a two- 
third majority of pro-slavery men, so that there 
nil difficulty was found; while in the House 
they lacked just one of the r('((uisite two-thirds. 
But where there is a \\]\\ there is a way to 
shape desired ends. Wrcmy never knows 
scruples. Consistently with the policy, it ever 
after possessed, of defying law, right and de- 
cency when its interests demanded, slavery re- 
solved upon its covxrse. Shaw, a coarse, pliant 
and not scrupulous man. the unsuccessful con- 
testant of Hanson, was sent for and he agreed 
if the seat would be given to him that he would 
vote for the convention. So the (piestion de- 
cided ten weeks before was reconsidered. Han- 
son, who had been admitted and held the office 
for ten weeks, was turned out. Shaw was 
voted in. and c.isting his vote for the conven- 
tion, it carried, and three days after Shaw's 
admission the General Assembly adjourned. 
These facts have been heretofore published, but 
usually with an important error. Probably to 
give piqnanc.v to the story, it has been said that 
Ihinson was admitted to vote for Thomas, which 
Shaw would not have done, and that Shaw was 
afterward bnnight in to vote for the conven- 
tion as Hanson would not do. This is not cor- 
rect. The senatorial election had no influence 
in determining Hanson's claim to a seat. It 
was decided on its merits. The turning him out 
was an after-thought, resorted to. when it was 
found, towards the close of the session, that one 
vote was needed, and Shaw's pliability and 
general views were known to be just what was 
recpiired. Shaw was a rough, course natured 
man. of some means and more notoriety, of a 
most susi)iciously contraband complexion and 
appeariince. and not burdened with any amount 
of scruples to unload, that would have pre- 
vented him from voting any way on an,y sub- 
ject (or promising to do .so) to get his seat. lie 
was known as the "Black Prince" of Calhoun. 

The effect of this high-handed defiance of rule 
and i)roi)riety, was most seriously damaging to 
the cause of the pro-slavery men, and was a 
charge during the succeeding canvass which 
they could not deny or defend. 

At this session, December 30tli, 1822, the 
boundaries of Pike Comity were more complete- 
ly defined, the base line si.x miles north of 
Quincy being the northern limit, all above, be- 
ing "attached." Provision was also made for 



the selection of a county seat which should be 
south of the base line. Calhoun county was 
subsecjuently cut ofi" from the lower portion of 
Pike with Cole's Grove (Gilead) as its county 
seat, while the county seat of Pike was estab- 
lished at Atlas, forty miles south of Quincy, 
which thus became the legal centre of this part 
of the count\- fell' the next three vears. 



CHAPTER V. 



18 2 8. 

JKRE.MI.XH ROSE. PIONEER HOSPITALITY. FIRST 

STE.A..MBOAT TO LAND. FIRST PASSENGER. 

STE-A.MBO.\TS DESCRIBED. SALE OF LANDS IN 

•MILITARY TRACT" FOR TAXES. KEYES BUYS 

A HALF SECTION. 

The legislation bearing especially upon this 
section (what is now Adams County) during 
the year 182:^, M'as not extensive or important. 
On the 28th of January, Fulton County was 
formed by detaching that portion of the mili- 
tary tract lying east of the IMeridiau ; and on 
the 18th of Februarj', as stated in the preced- 
ing chapter, by the aid of Shaw, the bogus rep- 
resentative from Pike, the call for a conven- 
tion to revise the Constitution of the State, 
passed the (ieneral Assembly, and thereupon, 
commenced the tierce political struggle, which 
raged throughout the farthest bounds of the 
.state and was ended by the decisive result at 
the polls eighteen months later. 

In !March of this year. ^lajor Jeremiah Kose, 
with his wife and diiughter, moved up from the 
lower part of Pike County, where he had been 
residing, and commenced "housekeeping'" in 
"Wood's cabin, its proprietor boarding with 
them. 

The same spring. Wood and IJuse broke and 
put under tillage about thirty acres of the land 
on either side of State street, just east of 12th, 
which AVood had enclosed during the winter, 
this being the land bought by him of Flynn. 
and the first cultivated ground iii the vicinity. 

There was very little immigration during the 
year, though a few settlers dropped in at scat- 
tered points throughout the county. Tyrer, on 
his land in Melrose, southeast of the city, ilajor 
Campbell and the AVorleys in the Rock Creek 
section, and perhaps half a dozen other fami- 
lies, or, generall.v, single men, settled in other 
localities. The little family of four monarchs 
of all they surveyed plodded diligently on 



14 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAjMS COUNTY. 



through the monotonous time, gradually sur- 
rounding themselves with more and more of the 
comforts of home, plain as these comforts were, 
and extending the sphere of their farming la- 
bors as the months rolled along. An occasional 
land hunter; a straggling squad of Indians; 
the monthly passage by of the military mail 
cai'rier from below to Fort Edwards (War- 
saw) ; now and then a United States Army offi- 
cer on his tour of duty; these were the ran- 
dom links that gave them some connection Avith 
civilization. 

"Whoever came, stepped at once into the hos- 
pitalities he sought without doubt as to wel- 
come or waiting for an invitation. 

Hotels were unknown, or rather it might be 
said, tluit every cabin, tent, or camp was a free 
hotel, a "lodge in the wilderness" open to the 
unasked use of all. Those were the days when 
"every stranger seemed a friend and every 
friend a brother," and the traveler more than 
repaid the care he caused when he opened his 
budget of news and gossip from the far-off 
world. 

Such was the social condition tiiroughout the 
whole frontier of the west here and elsewhere, 
and this, like some others, from location or ac- 
cident, became one of the noted stations for the 
traveler's hospitable welcome. Statelier struc- 
tures have since arisen, from Avhich reach out 
more tempting offerings of luxury and style, 
but never has the wearied wayfarer been sol- 
aced with truer comfort and rest, than in the 
rough-hewn huts of our pioneer sires. Rugged 
as might be the outer seeming, welcome smiled 
on the threshold and plenty crowned the board, 
and in the little clean-kept cabin, from stranger 
and sojourner faded away all thought of home- 
ly cheer while partaking of the kind hospitality 
of their hosts. 

A salient episode in the monotony of the 
time, was the appearance of the "Virginia," 
the first steamboat that attempted the naviga- 
tion on the iipper ^Mississippi. It was a stern 
Avheeler with a cabin on the lower deck, and no 
upper works, not even a pilot house. It was 
steered by a tiller in the hands of the pilot, as 
are canal boats at the present time. It was 
118 feet long and 22 feet beam, and drew six 
feet when moderately loaded. 

The "Virginia" passed up in May of this 
year with the object of demonstrating the feasi- 
bility of navigation by stream of the ]\Iissis- 
sippi from St. Louis to its junction with the 
IMinnesota (Fort Snelling). This, though the 
first boat that passed over the lower rapids, 
was but the second that had ascended to that 
point. Three years before, a government steam- 
er, the "Western Engineer," commanded by 



or under the direction of Major S. II. Long, an 
army officer eminent for his acquirements as a 
discoverer and civil engineer, steamed up as 
high as Keokuk. This was in the summer of 
1820 or 1821 ; authorities disagree upon the 
precise date. 

On its downward trip, Mr. Asa Tyrer. who 
afterward located, lived and died east of what 
was long known as Tyrers' (now Watson's) 
Spring, happened to be on the river bank, hav- 
ing roamed here to examine his land. He hailed 
the steamboat, was taken on board and thus the 
Engineer became the first steamer that landed 
at Quiucy. and Mr. Tyrer the first passenger 
therefrom. It was many years before another 
was seen. 

Before this time, and for many years after- 
ward, transportation on the river was carried 
on by keel boats, which made their periodical 
trips from St. Louis to Fort Cranford, Prairie 
Du Chien or Fort Snelling. laden with sup- 
plies for the army and the Indians, and what- 
ever else of freight might be picked up. The 
ordinary speed of these boats was from eight 
to twelve miles a day, by being eordelled or 
poled along the banks except when, witli a 
favorable south wind, sail could be raised, when 
their progress was greatly accelerated. 

Freight usually had a fixed price, that is. the 
charge was as great to any intermediate point 
as throughout the whole distance unless the 
shipper would guarantee that when his way 
freight was taken out an equal amount should 
replace it. Then rates proportionate to dis- 
tance would be charged. 

The con-struction of the Engineer "smoke 
boat" or "fire canoe," as the Indians termed 
the steamboat, was peculiar enough to warrant 
description. Authorities differ somewhat as to 
the detail of appearance, one writer says that 
"on the bow running from the keel, was the 
image of a huge serpent, painted black, its 
mouth red, and tongue the color of a live coal; 
the steam escaped through the mouth of this 
image. The Indians looked upon it with great 
wonder and astonishment. They declared it 
was the power of the great Spirit ; and said the 
big snake carried the boat on its back. Some 
were afraid to go near the machinery. The 
steamer was in command of Lieiitenant Swift, 
but the vessel was not very swift. bi;t as a 
means of exploration, the boat was a success. 
She was a side-wheeler, and the first to ascend 
the Upper Missouri, and Mississippi." Another 
and more reliable authority, the Rev. John M. 
Peck, who writes from his personal observa- 
tion, says "the boat was a small one with a 
stern wheel and an escape pipe so contrived as 
to emit a torrent of smoke and steam through 



PAST AM) I'RKSEXT OF ADAMS COrXTV. 



15 



th(? head of a serpent with a red forketl tongue 
projeeting i'ruiu the bow." 

A steamer, however, was a curiosity in those 
days. It was not until about the j^ear 1830 
that steamboats fairly superseded the keel 
boats on the I'pper jMississippi, and not until a 
later perioil. that tlieir business became gen- 
eral and regular. The reasons were manifold. 

One was the light amount of business that 
offered either way up or down, and unless 
steamboats had a shipment of government 
stoi-es for army or Indian use, it did not pay to 
steam into the wildei-ness. and again the con- 
struction of boats in those days precluded nav- 
igation of the upper rivers except during for 
a short period of the year. 

They were built shiplike on ocean models, 
round bottomed and deep, drawing more water 
light, than the largest packets now draw 
loaded. 

The steamers of "old times." as recollection 
pictures them, contrast strikingly with the 
floating palaces of to-day. They were short, 
blunt, broad, with small wheels; the wheel- 
house rarely rising above the level of the cabin 
floor. The ladies' cabin was located at the 
stern of the boat as now, the gentlemen's cabin 
Avas below and in the rear of the wheel houses. 
The sides of the cabins were filled with two 
and sometimes three tiers of berths, with long 
curtains that during the day were drawn aside. 
State rooms were much later inventions; not 
until about 1836 were these in use, and only 
then and later, was the custom of making the 
cabins all lined with staterooms, general. 

The space now occupied by the main cabin 
was unfinished and used by the half-fare or 
"deck" passengers. The roof did not, as now, 
extend forward over the boiler deck. It ran 
about two-thirds the length of the boat with 
the little pilot house standing on its forward 
edge. There was no cover to the boiler deck 
and xip through it ran the two chimneys. A 
single engine only was used with one escape 
pipe and especial care was taken to have the 
escape of the steam as loud as possible, so that 
it might serve as a note of warning to the 
country for ten miles or more around. 

A bowsprit from six to ten feet long pro- 
truded at the front on the end of which the 
flas- staff rested. Some of the earlier built boats 
nuule use of the bowsi)rit as a scape pipe for 
the steam as depicted in another part of this 
chapter. 

Some of these seekers for land during this 
and the following year returned and settled in 
vai'ious directions but they Avere fcAV and scat- 
tered. Only tliose who. as soldiers, had drawn 
land <u- those who had bought of the soldier. 



could legally occupy the government land, for, 
as we have stated, it did not come into market 
until about 1830. 

The bounty lands Avere first offered for sale, 
under state laAvs, for taxes, in December of this 
year at Vandalia, Aviien all the lands granted 
by the goA'ernment to soldiers l.A'ing betAveen 
the tAvo rivers Avhere default to pay taxes had 
occurred, Avere i)ut up for sale and this sale 
attracted a great representation of settlers and 
speculators. So extensive, hoAvever, Avas the 
amount of land offered in contrast Avith the 
niunber and means of the attendant purchasers 
that little or no comiietition occurred, the buy- 
ers formed in a circle on the day of sale and 
the lots Avere bought in turn, and subsequently 
divided b}^ the purchasers. Mr. Keyes (AA'ho up 
to this time remained at the old residence in 
five south, six Avest) and Mr. Wood, attended 
this sale and purchased sundry lots in the vicin- 
ity of Quincy, trusting to their intended occu- 
pancy and the chance of obtaining the other 
title if their tax purchase Avas not redeemed. 
At this time Mr. Keyes purchased the half sec- 
tion north of BroadAvay and West of 12th 
street, for the amount of taxes and costs 
amounting to about eleven dollars. the complete 
title of Avhich he acquired at a later day. 

Atlas Avas uoav and for tAvo year's after the 
nearest postofSce. To that place a Aveekly mail 
carried on horseback AA'as brought. 



CHAPTER VI. 



1824. 

CABIXS OF AVOOD. KEYES. DROULARD. FIRST 
BL.\CKSMITH. FIRST PHYSICIAN. PRO-SDAV- 
ERY AGITATION. TIN TEAPOT FOR A BALLOT 
BOX. FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTON. GOV- 
ERNOR CARLIN. ROLL CALL OF ARRIVALS. 

In the spring of 1828 Willard Keyes, Avho tAVo 
or three years before had been keeping "bache- 
lor's hall Avith John Wood, about thirty miles 
south of A\iiere Quincy uoav is, came up to the 
"blufl's." foUoAving his old "pardner," Wood, 
and liuilt for himself a cabin some tAventy feet 
si(uare. aiul rather larger and more pretentious 
than that of Wood's. It Avas located near Avhat 
is now the corner of First and Vermont streets. 
This' "settlement" of Keyes' Avas a "squat," the 
term in those days, applied to a location or 
residence on government land not yet subject 
to entry, and Avas in opposition to the laws 
Avhich forbid such settlement and occui)ation. 
Mr. Keyes hoped. hoAvever. to obtain a pre- 



i6 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADA:\1S COUNTY. 



eiuptiou under the law which would eutitle him 
to priority in purchase when the land became 
subject to sale. But the fact of its being frac- 
tional and the subsequent taking it for the 
county seat under the provisions of a law which 
reserved any quarter section from private entry 
that had been selected as a county seat, before 
its offer for sale, spoiled the hopes of the pio- 
neer. He cared little about this, because it 
was mainly through him that the county seat 
was located where it now is to the sacritice of 
his immediate interests in the laud on which 
he lived. This rough, little cramped cabin be- 
came a prominent building, because put to 
many public uses in those early days. It was 
the "temple of justice" where the first court 
was held. It was the place for public assem- 
blages, where the early officials met and the 
primitive organizations were matured, some- 
times it served for religious meetings (like 
Wood's cabin, a half a mile south); it was a 
general free hotel for the wanderer and the 
wayfarer, and the temporary stopping place 
of the immigrant with his family until he could 
make his permanent location in the neighbor- 
hood. This was the second house built in 
Quiney. 

In the fall of this year came John Droulard, 
a Frenchman, and a shoemaker by trade, who 
had served in the army. He became the owner 
of the northeast quarter of section two, town- 
ship two south, range nine west, the 160 acres 
now in the center of the cit.y lying innnediately 
east of the fractional quarter on which Keyes 
had .settled; bounded by Broadway and 12th 
streets on the north and east, on the west by 
the alley, running from Maine to Hampshire, 
between 6th and 7th, and on the south by a 
line nearly half way between Kentucky and 
York streets. This was a choice piece of prop- 
erty, which, in a few years, Droulard frittered 
away. He erected a cabin near the northeast 
corner of what is now Jersey and 8th streets, 
a little west of where the gas works are situ- 
ated. These three houses. Wood's, Keyes' and 
Droulard 's, were the only buildings in the place 
in 1824:. This same season, Asa Tyrer. who 
had visited the place some years before, came 
again and set i^p a cabin and blacksmith shop 
about a mile southeast, near what was long 
known as Tyrer 's Spring, since called Watson's 
Spring, named for Ben Watson, the son-in-law 
of Tyrer, who long lived there afterward. A 
Dr. Thomas Baker, the earliest physician in the 
county, came also during the summer and es- 
tablished himself about two miles south, below 
the bluft". He was a learned and skillful man. 
A few years later, he moved north into what 
is now I\Iereer countv, and shortly after, was 



accidently killed — kicked by his horse. The 
three families first named, Wood, then unmar- 
ried, with whom was Major Rose and family, 
Keyes also a bachelor and Droulard with a 
family were the people of Quinc}'. Their spe- 
cial pioneer.ship may be .stated thus: Wood 
first came, built and settled; Rose then fol- 
lowed, took Wood's cabin, kept house for him 
and brought hither the finst family; Keyes was 
next in the order of coming, and the first to 
settle on what became the original town of 
Quiney. and Droulard was the first resident 
land owner. Keyes, Wood and Rose were liv- 
ing on land tt> which as yet they had not ob- 
tained title. They were "squatters" in fact, 
as were many of our early settlers at first, but 
they were the possessors of the entire area, and 
their apparent ownership "fenced in," as it 
were, the locality so that there seemed "no 
abiding place" for anyone else until the fol- 
lowing year, when the establishment of the 
county seat on the fractional northwest quar- 
ter of section two, threw the land open to set- 
tlement. There were a few settlers around 
within a range of thirty miles or more, less 
than a hundred in all, men. women and chil- 
dren. The census of the following j-ear gave 
192 as the population of Adams and Hancock. 
Quiet and monotonous was the life they led on 
this edge of civilization; devoted to their sim- 
ple daily task, gathering the news from the 
outer world that came thi'ough the meagre 
monthly mail or was brought by the occasional 
traveler or the incoming settler, who were cer- 
tain to be thoroughly pumped of all the news 
they contained. A^et their isolation and dis- 
tance from older communities did not prevent 
their taking interest in public affairs and the 
growing future of the great state whose for- 
tunes they had linked with their own. And 
the time soon came for this little conununity to 
play a not unimportant part in the movements 
permanently shaping the destiny of Illinois. 
During this year, there came up and was set- 
tled the most exciting and vital political strug- 
gle that ever att'ected the social, political, moral 
and material interest of the state. 

Illinois six years before had been admitted 
to the union with a free constitution, but was 
in many respects, practically a slave state. Her 
early settlers were mainly from the south, and 
most of her public men Avere of southern birth 
and proclivities. Slaves had. without restric- 
tion, been brought here during territorial times 
and even later, and they remaiued here as 
slaves. Again, by stipiilation in the treaties 
which transferred all of the Louisiana terri- 
tory, embracing the valley of the Mi.s.sissippi, 
negroes belonging to the French and Sp.nn- 



PAST AND PIJESEXT OF Al)A:\rS COUNTY. 



17 



ish owners remained shxves for life, and the 
children of such slaves so continued until they 
became twenty-eight years of age. Thus a 
large slave element and interest existed. 

The election as governor in 1822 of Coles, 
an avowed emancipationist, who had brought 
hither his own slaves from N'irginia and given 
them their freedom, aroused all the latent dis- 
agreeing elements on this subject and stimu- 
lated a struggle as bitter and fierce as always 
characterized contests over this issue during 
the after years when the pro-slavery interest 
attempted to dominate the nation. It was es- 
sential to the introduction, and sustaining of 
slaverj-, such as existed, that the constitution 
should be changed. To do this a convention 
must be called. In tlir legislature of 1822-2-3 
one vote was needed to i)ass the law calling for 
a convention to be voted for at the next elec- 
tion. It was furnished h-nni the "military 
tract.'' 

The scheme by which a majority in the legis- 
lature was secured in favor of the convention, 
has been related. The measure was adopted 
by a majority of one. 

From this time, the spring of 1823, for eight- 
een months, until the August election of 1824, 
the state was stirred up with great excitement. 
Voting for a convention, meant and was recog- 
nized as voting for slaveiy. If a convention 
was called, the apportionment in the state was 
such that it Avould have a majority of pro- 
slavery members, and there was the certainty 
that a constitution recognizing slaveiy would 
be framed and adopted without submission to a 
popular vote, just as the constitution of 1818 
was jidopted. 

There were but four votes in Quincy, and in 
what is now Adams county there were perhaps 
a score or more, but they were earnest and ac- 
tive. The county, which was then Pike, as far 
north as the base line six miles above Quincy, 
was canvassed thoroughly, so was all the coun- 
try north as far as Eock Island. Tlie voters 
turned out en masse, and on Snndaj' morning, 
the day before the election, nearly fifty had 
gathered here at the "Bluff's," as the plac<.' was 
tlien called. They rode to Atlas, forty iuiles 
south, swinnniuf;- the creeks which were "bank 
full." and plumped their votes on the follow- 
ing day. Of the one hundred votes cast at At- 
las, ninety-seven were for "no convention" or 
a free state, and three vrere "for the conven- 
tion." The "no convention" ticket swept the 
state by about 1,800 majority, and Illinois was 
preserved to freedom. 

At this same election. Nicholas Hanson, who 
had been so iniceremoniously ejected from the 
previous legislature, was re-chosen by a most 



decisive vote. He resigned before his term 
expired and was succeeded by Levi Roberts, of 
Fulton county. Fulton and Pike were then a 
representative district. Thomas Carlin (after- 
ward governor) was elected state senator. Dan- 
iel P. Cook was elected again to congress over 
his competitor, ex-Governor Hond. Illinois was 
entitled to but one representative, Ninian Ed- 
wards, U. S. senator, having resigned, John ilc- 
Lean was chosen as his successor. 

The presidential election in November, which 
resulted in the success of John Quincy Adams, 
was marked by a feature which is said to have 
had some bearing upon the name given to the 
county and town in the following year. At this 
time the whole country between the rivers, 
north of Pike county, was attached to that 
county, and called, from its extent, the "King- 
dom of Pike." As there were no organized 
or authorized voting places north of Atlas the 
settlers concluded to try their own hands in- 
dependently at electing a president. Accord- 
ingly on the day of election some twenty or 
more of them assembled, and organized a poll 
by electing judges and clerks and made use of 
a tin teapot for a ballot box and voted. John 
Wood came up from Atlas the day before with 
a list of the Adams electors. Nobody knew the 
names of the Clay or Crawford electors. They 
all wanted to vote. So, though many of them 
thought that Jackson or Crawford or Clay was 
the better man, they unanimously voted the 
Adams ticket. 

At this presidential election in November, 
1824, twenty votes were said to have been east. 
This number is not improbable, as men were 
then allowed to vote, away from home, any- 
where in the state at general elections, and the 
qualifications of the voters as to age, citizen- 
ship, etc., were rarely inquired into. Indeed, 
some of the voters on this occasion were resi- 
dents of ^Missouri, but who could not find any 
other place in Avhich to exercise their free- 
man's i)rivilege. There is one point in this old 
and oft told story of their making use of an 
old teapot for a ballot box which is of more 
than doubtful validity, and which rather tends 
to cloud the whole transaction with some un- 
certainty. The manner of voting then in this 
state was viva voce, and not until twenty-four 
years, was the ballot box system adopted as 
the law. Why or how a teapot should have 
been needed is somewhat of a puzzle. Still, as 
all the parties are dead and the story now can 
neither be refuted nor proven, it is well enough 
to let it stand and not be too critical in the vin- 
dication of the truth of the story. 

The presidential election had no political 
character. The contest between General Jack- 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADA:\IS COUNTY. 



son, Heury Clay, John Quincy Adams and Wm. 
II. Crawford for the presidency was almost en- 
tirely personal, and based, mainly, on individ- 
ual preferences or local feeling. These men 
had all been more or less closely associated 
with the late administration of President ]\Ion- 
I'oe and entertained neai'ly the same general 
political ideas. This was also the case in re- 
gard to the local elections and officials. 

Hanson and Carlin — representative and sen- 
ator — represented no party, for there were 
no parties nor party names, to serve under. 
They were of general agreement in public mat- 
ters but of ditt'ereut stamp of character and 
training, and would have drifted into opposi- 
tion over the strong political lines that formed 
a few years later. These two were important 
men in their day. Hanson was possessed of 
more than ordinary ability, and had a great 
deal of intluenee in the legislature and at home. 
After he resigned his seat in the house, during 
this session, he returned to New York, his na- 
tive state. Carlin tilled a large place in the his- 
tory of this section and the state. He was state 
senator for eight years, soon after came to 
Quincy as receiver of the land office, and in 
1838, was chosen governor. He was a man of 
limited attainments, of rough appearance and 
habits, but had force of character, good .judg- 
ment and personal integrity, qualities which se- 
cured him public confidence and success. 

Settlers came slowly drifting into the vicin- 
ity during the year; perhaps a dozen or more 
families settled in what afterward became 
Adams county, most of them in the southern 
portion. None came to Quincy, or the "Bluffs," 
as it was then called. These settlers were either 
soldiers who had come to take possession of the 
land which they had drawn as bounty, or par- 
ties Avho had purchased of the soldiers. No 
other than the militai-y bounty lands had, as 
yet, come into market. These settlers passed 
directly on to their lands and commenced and 
were kept busied Avith their nule improve- 
ments. During the year there moved into the 
county, Levi Wells, Orestes and Zephania.h 
Ames, Amos Bancroft, Rial Crandall, James 
Pearce, L. Budkirk. the Seehorns, Elias Adams, 
Lawrence Cranford, Daniel Moore, Peter Jour- 
ney and pei-haps half a dozen others. There was 
biit little intercourse because the people were 
few, were busy clearing their lands and lived 
far apart. There was no trading because there 
was nothing raised to sell, and but little was 
wanted. Supplies, such as could not be raised 
at home and were needed, were obtained from 
Clarksville or Louisiaua or sometimes, from St. 
Louis. Clarksville, Missouri, Avas then the post- 
office. Afterward a postoffiee was established at 



Atlas, forty miles south. Up to this time, none 
but log houses were built in the county, and all 
of these were built without iron, all ties and 
fastenings being made with wooden pins. 



CHAPTER VII. 



1825. 

COMMISSIONERS L.\Y OUT THE TOWN AND FIX 
THE COUNTY SEAT. WHY COUNTY NAMED 
■■ADAMS" AND TOWN "QUINCY." FIRST WED- 
DING. FIRST CIRCUIT COURT. MAILS ONCE A 
WE;EK. DIFFICULTY' IN GETTING TITLE TO 
SITE OF CITY. FIRST PLAT OF CITY. FIRST 
SALE OF LOTS. FIRST BURIAL GROUND. FIRST 
COURT HOUSE. ROLL OF NAMES OF EARLY 
SETTLERS. 

Eighteen hundred and twentj'-five was a no- 
table year in the history of Quincy. It was 
the natal year of county and citj', and when the 
former assumed its permanent place in the po- 
litical structure of the state. In 182-t, and also 
in 1825, up to the time when the Commissioners 
authorized by the state, came to locate the 
county seat of the new county, there were at 
"the blutt's" Init three resident families and 
as many cabins. These last were, as has been 
related, first, John Wood's cabin, near the cor- 
ner of Delaware and Front streets, inhabited by 
John Wood and Major Jeremiah Rose and fam- 
ily; second, Willard Keyes' cabin, near where 
Front and Vermont streets join, in which he 
lived by himself, and, third, (also third in the 
order of erection), was the cabin of John Drou- 
lard, a Frenchman. He was a shoemaker by 
trade, and the owner of the ciuarter section 
bounded by Twelfth street on the east, Broad- 
way on the north, the west line reaching to the 
alley between sixth and seventh streets, and 
the south line to a point between York and 
Kentucky streets. Droulard's cabin was situ- 
ated near what is now the corner of Seventh 
and Jersey streets, on the block northwest of 
the present gas works. 

In conformity with the notice referred to in 
a preceding chapter, application was made to 
the Ceneral Assemlily at its session of 1824 and 
1825 and the same was referred to the Commit- 
tee on Counties, of which General Nicholas 
Hanson, the representative from Pike county, 
which then embraced all the country between 
the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, was chair- 
man. He reported a bill, which was passed and 
approved January 18th. 1825, creating the 
counties of Adams and Schuyler, providing for 
their organization, and dividing the remainder 
of the Militarv Tract into future counties, each 



>AST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



19 



tiMiipDrarily jittachcd \n cillicr one of llic above 
counties, bill aiilhor-i/.i'd lo iiKb'pi'iulciitly or- 
U-aiiizi" when Die population amoinilctl to three 
bundled and fit'ly persons; aiitliority being' 
given to the (iovenior to appoint tlie neeessary 
county otiieials. Adams and Sehnyler counties, 
inider this hiw. Avere aMowod to initiate their 
coi-pornte iii-gani/ati(ins whenever the (,'ircuit 
Judge siioiild ortler an election for County 
Coiniiiissioners. This election for Acbuns county 
■was orilered and held on the 2ik1 of .July. Han- 
cock county by the law. was attached to and 
formed, temporarily, a part of Adams. 

The tliree commissioners, appointed in pur- 
suance of the above legishition. to select the 
county seat for the new county, were Joel 
Wright, of ^Montgomery (Joiinty, Seymour Kel- 
logg, of ^lorgan. and David Dtitton of Pike. 

On the 30th of April, two of the Commission- 
ers, Messrs. Kellogg and Dutton, came to "the 
blntlf's" to perform their allotted task. They 
had been strongly impressed with the propriety 
and had come to the determination, as they ex- 
l)ressed it, of locating the county seat "as near 
the geographical center of the county as pos- 
sible." Fate decreed otherwise. Luck, .strat- 
egy and the impressive treatment they received 
at "the blutit's" produced a reversal of this de- 
sign. They were courteously received on their 
arrival. One-fourth of the male i)opnlation of 
the place was absent (Wood beiug at St. Louis), 
but the residue (Keyes, Rose and Droulard) 
turned out en masse. The Commissioners ac- 
cepted the hospitalities of the place, and when 
they started on their search for the center of 
the county, twenty-tive per cent of the male 
po])ulation (Willard Keyes) volunteered to es- 
cort and guide them. One finds, as a curious 
commentary on the uncertainty which some- 
times attends the action of a person of the most 
assured capacity, that, on this occasion, Mv. 
Keyes' proverbial skill in woodcraft and ex- 
jierience as a laud ]iilot. appears to have been 
entirely lost. or. left at home; since, notwith- 
staTiding his valuable and disinterested aid, the 
worthy commissioners after a day's toil, found 
themselves far nwve likely to reach the cen- 
ter of the earth than the center of the county. 
After tlountlering through the briars, bogs, 
quagmires, swamps and quicksands of ilill 
Creek, sinking sometimes to their saddle girths, 
happy were the fagged dignitaries, abandoning 
their i)rofitless search for the central "Eldora- 
do," to retrace their steps, and, when the dusk 
came on, find shelter beneath the generous roof 
of the cabin of John Wood and Jeremiah Rose. 
A substantial supper; a comforting sleep; a 
hearty breakfast on the ensuing morning, and 
the bewildered judiiinent of llie now refreshed 



Commissioners, ripened to a result. Passing, 
with all the people of the place in procession, 
over the broken l)lnffs ;ind through the grassy 
woods to the narrow. i)rairie ridge that crept 
across what is now Washington S(iuare. they 
halted about the si)ot where is now the bronze 
statue of John Wood. Here, driving a stake 
into the ground, with all the formality and im- 
pre.ssiveness that could be brought to hear, they 
officially announced that the Northwest quarter 
of section two, township two, range nine west, 
^vas from that hour the ctumty seat of Adams 
County, Then, reverently placing their hands 
upon the top of the stake they christened the 
place "Qnincy." 

John Quincy Adams had been elected Presi- 
dent and on the preceding -ith of ]\Iarch, took 
possession of the White House, and just about 
the time of this visit of the commissioners, the 
inaugural address of "The old man eloquent," 
Avhich had been delivered to Congress some two 
months before, had been bi'ought in the mails. 
It formed, of course, a topic for conversation 
1)etween the Commissioners and the citizens, 
and Kellogg, a warm Adams man from Morgan, 
sore over a recent political struggle, said, "In 
our county, they've named the county seat 
Jacksonville, after General Jackson." "Well," 
said some one from the croAvd. "let's call our 
county seat Quincy. and we'll see which comes 
out ahead, Jackson or Adams." It was car- 
ried by a unanimous vote. 

As the county had been called Adams and 
the town christened Qnincy, an attempt was 
made to have the stream that flows into the 
river at the foot of Delaware street, named 
"Johnny Creek," so as to comiJete the se- 
quence of the cognomen. It failed to stick. 

Another query about names occurs in the 
case of "The Bay," which stretches along the 
foot of the bluffs for about three miles above 
the city. "Boston Bay" it was called in the 
earlier times and on the older maps, as some 
say, because "a Bostonian once navigated his 
craft i;p this bay, mistaking it for the main 
channel of the river." The more reasonable 
theory is. that it took its name from a French 
trader by the name of Bouston. or Boistoue, 
who lived on its east bank. 

A notable event occurred shortly after this 
visit of the Commissioners, the first of its kind, 
and hence the cause of no small sensation in 
the infant connnnnity. It was the marriage 
of Amos Bancroft to Ardelia Ames. Whether 
these young people were stimulated to this step 
by a laudable ambition to be the first local 
pioneers in the good work invented by old 
Adam, or whether they were influenced by that 
which makes voung folks nowadays "go and do 



20 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



likewise," it is not now material to inquire; 
sufficient is the fact that theirs was the pioneer 
wedding, the first marriage solemnized in 
Adams County. The venerable Mr. Bancroft 
afterward removed to Missouri, where he died 
February, 1875. 

The first election was held for county offi- 
cers on the 2nd of July at "Keyes' Cabin," 
where the Presidential vote had been taken the 
fall before. Whether the old teapot officiated 
again is not recorded. About forty votes were 
polled. These forty votes included probably 
almost every man in Adams County; those in 
the attached territory on the north, and also 
anybody else Avho chose to vote. Our unselfish 
and unsuspicious ancestors were not sensitive 
on the suiirage question. Age, residence, or 
other qualifications were matters that they in- 
quired into very little. Their reasoning was 
that any one Avho came along, unless Indian or 
negro, had a right to vote, if not here some- 
where, and hence perplexing questions were 
rai'ely asked. The commissioners chosen, were 
Peter Journey, a Jerseymau by birth, who lived 
at the foot of the bluff about ten miles south ; 
Willard Keyes, a native of Vermont, resident, 
as Ave have stated, about the foot of Vermont 
street, and Levi Wells, a native of Connecticut. 
Mr. Wells then resided in the south part of the 
coiinty near Paj-son, but soon moved to Quincy, 
remaining in the city until his death. The es- 
timated population of the county at this time, 
was seventy. On the 4th of Jiily, the newly 
chosen officials met for organization at the 
house of Mr. Keyes. They appointed as tempo- 
rary clerk (subsequently making the appoint- 
ment permanent), Henry II. Snow. Mr. Snow 
(or Judge Snow, as he was always named in 
later years) was a single man. He had arrived 
in Quincy but a few days previous. He was a 
native of New Hampshire, a man of good cler- 
ical attainment, qualifications much needed in 
those days, and with an unusual fund of gen- 
eral intelligence. He soon became the incum- 
bent of nearly all the official positions in the 
county. His name is perhaps, more directly 
associated with the records and public business 
of the place than that of any other of the ear- 
lier settlers. Earl Pearce was appointed con- 
stable and Ira Pearce deputed to take the cen- 
sus. The Pearce family, lived near where the 
Alexander farm now is. five miles south. Joshua 
Streeter, John L. Soule, Lewis C. K. Hamilton 
and Amos Bancroft were appointed justices of 
the peace. 

Near the close of July or early in August, 
the first Circuit Court convened, as usual, at 
the cabin of Mr. Keyes. No apology was due 
Mr. Keyes for the public use thus made of his 



house, since the fact is, that his was the only 
one of the three cabins in the place that had 
no women or children in it. At this term, lit- 
tle or no business was ti-ansacted farther than 
what was necessary to the organization of the 
court. The first formally concluded legal busi- 
ness was at the succeeding term in October. 
At the session of the County Commissioners 
preceding the term of the Circuit Court, the 
panel of Grand and Petit Jurors being made 
out is said to have embraced every qualified 
juryman iu the country except two, and one of 
those was under indictment. 

John Torcke SaAvyer, the first circuit judge, 
Avas no ordinary man. He Avas a native of Ver- 
mont. He possessed acquirements and legal 
acumen, fully adequate to sustain the char- 
acter of the local bench in those clays. In one 
respect, he Avas far beyond rivalry. Judge SaAV- 
yer Aveighed nearly four hundred pounds, 
while, as an illustration of hoAV extremes will 
often meet, his good Avife could not bring doAvn 
the scales at ninety pounds. The Avags used to 
say that it took an active laAvyer to get around 
the Judge, and Avhen, in the little sixteen-foot 
square cabin of Mr. Keyes, AA'here the first court 
Avas held, or eA'en afterAA^ard in the tAventy-tAVO 
by eighteen court-room subsequently erected, 
his honor took his seat, the room seemed full of 
justice. He had a spice of jolly Avaggery at 
times: 

]Mrs said he, to a country 

landlady as he picked up the plate of butter, 
"Avhat's the color of your coavs?" "Why, 
Judge," she ansAvered, "they're all colors; 
Avliite and black and speckled." "So I should 
think, by the looks of your butter," was the 
Judge's reply. He Avas a fair laAA^^er, and a 
correct man. He remained in office but two 
years. The General Assembly at the session of 
1826 and 1827 changing the circuit coui't sys- 
tem, appointed Samuel D, Lockwood, in the 
l^lace of SaAvyer. He afterAvard removed to 
Vandalia and" died there IMareh 13th, 1836, 
Avliile editing the Vandalia AdA'ocate. 

Neither Quincy nor Adams County, in those 
halcyon days, Avere blessed Avith any laAvyers, 
but at this first session the Judge was accom- 
panied by the Prosecuting Attorney, James 
Tnrney. A. W. Cavarly, for many years after 
a prominent politican from Greene County; 
Ben ]\Iills. the most gifted man in the state of 
his day, Avho died at Galena some tAventy years 
later : J. W. Whitney, the Lord Coke of famous 
' ' Lobby ' ' memory : John Tuimey, and perhai)s 
other members of the bar, from "below." H. II. 
SnoAV Avas appointed circuit clerk. He was, as 
before stated, peculiarly qualified for positions 
of this character and for many years "sAvung 



I'AST AND I'KESENT OF ADA.MS COCXTV. 



21 



ardiind tlic fii'L'lu" iii' [nililic ti-iists, efticieal, 
faitlifiil, and respected liy all. lie was Circuit 
and County Clerk, Probate -Judge, Justice of 
the Peace. Postman and Recorder, and kept 
singing school besiiles. lie died honored and 
lamented in ISGU. Colonel James Black of Van- 
dalia, was the first appointed postmaster and 
recorder, but a few days' residence disgusted 
him with the primitive surroundings and he 
left, deputizing his duties to j\lr. .Snow, who 
soon succeeded to both positions. Levi Hadley 
was appointed sheriff, an excellent man, who, 
four years later, in 1829, fell from a steam- 
boat and was drowned while on his way to 
Galena. 

These, and those previously named, were all 
the county officials ap])ointed or thought neces- 
sary at the time. In the year following, au 
assessor and treasurer were appointed. Nicho- 
las Hanson was the representative, and Thomas 
Carlin. of Greene (bounty, was state senator. 

Up to this time. Atlas, forty miles south in 
Pike County, was the nearest postoffice. There 
was received a weekly mail, carried on horse- 
back. When Quincy became a "local habita- 
tion and a name" it received the benefit of this 
weekly mail, but it was many years before the 
mail bag came oftener than once a week. Ac- 
cess to the world without was by hoi'sebaek, 
and when not in au especial haste, by keel- 
boat or canoe. Steamboats came "occasional- 
ly," stage coaches were unknown, and roads 
were not yet made. The heaviest duty that 
pressed upon our new county commissioners 
was the devising where roads ought to be. 
There ran at this time along the river bank, 
under the bluff, a faintly beaten track, made 
by the military travel, from Fort Edwards 
(Warsaw) south. There was also a road from 
near the cabin of John Wood up the creek, di- 
viding when it reached the higher ground, one 
path pointing towards Fort Clark (Peoria), 
and the otlier eastward, tow'ards the Illinois 
river, at Phillips' Ferry. 

Although the location of the eoiuity seat had 
been established and the name decided, the 
work was, as yet. far from being done. The 
X. W. 2-2 S. 9 W. had. it is true, been declared 
by the authorized commissioners of Illinois, to 
be the comity seat of Adams Comity, but the 
land belonged yet to the United States, and 
Adams CountA- could exercise no ownership 
over it until the same had been bought and paid 
for. The land was not as yet in the market. A 
serious, but perhaps unavoidable drawback to 
the ready settlement of the new states was the 
delay of the Government in completing its sur- 
veys and throwing the lands open to entry. For 
nearly ten vears after the admission of the 



State, only the bounty or soldier's patented 
lands of the Military Tract were within the 
reach of immigrants, the Government, or "Con- 
gress" land, as it was called, not being ready 
for entry or offered for sale. A very judicious 
act of Congress, however, had secured to coun- 
ties the right of pre-emption, or priority of pur- 
chase, whenever the land came into market, of 
any one designated quarter-section to be used 
;is a county seat. The land above-mentioned 
liad been, as we have seen, selected by the State 
( ommissiouers; but the next step, and the most 
dillicult, was the raising of the money (about 
$200) to deposit with the laud office and thus 
confirm the pre-emption; and herein "lav the 
rub." 

The score or two of residents of Quincy and 
the vicinity as yet had little money. Mount Pis- 
gah could almost as easily have been lifted 
from its base as the required amount for such 
a purpose have been furnished by our hand- 
ful of pioneers. 

Fortunately a ]Mr. liussell Farnham. a well- 
known, liberal "river trader." the first who 
took out a peddler's licen.se from the county, 
had the money and would advance it if he could 
have some personal assurances of its iiltimate 
return. He regarded the infant county as a 
very mythical institution, in a business point of 
view. On being thus assured, he loaned the 
money ($200) and took the note of the Com- 
missioners, dated August 17th, 1825, secui-ed 
by H. H. Snow and David E. Cuyler as en- 
dorsers. This note was taken up and another 
given by the commissioners without endorsers, 
dated September 6th. 1825. i)ayable May 15th, 
1826, with 10 per cent interest from August 
17th. 1825. This note was held by Farnham, 
and no payments were made on it until April 
10th, 1829, when $205 were paid, and on the 
1st of ]\Iay. 1830, the remainder was paid. Mr. 
Farnham died not long afterward, of cholera, 
at Portage de Sioux. 

With this money the patent was obtained, but 
not without much tribulation. It was well 
known that the quarter was fractional, while 
the precise number of acres was uncei'tain. The 
commissioners deposited as much of the money 
as they thought necessary, desiring to use the 
remainder for other purposes. They were ad- 
vised that their deposit was probably too small. 
Another installment was added and still the 
matter appearing doubtful, they were informed 
that if they would deposit the whole amount 
($200) the patent would be at once issued to 
them for 160 acres, and the difference be re- 
funded whenever the exact measure of the 
quai-ter was ascertained. This was done and 
this is the reason why the patent or deed from 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADA:M8 COUNTY. 



the United States conveys 160 acres, while, as 
■\vas subsequently ascertained on working- out 
the field notes, when filed, the real area was 
but 154 acres. 

The deed from the United States was not 
made until the 13th of February, 1832. It con- 
veys the N. W. 2, 2 S. 9 W. to 'the "County of 
Adams and its successors." 

On the 9th of November the commissioners 
made an order that there should be a survey 
and plat prepared of the quarter section on 
which the county seat was located, and that a 
sale of lots should be held on December 13th. 
They appointed Snow surveyor and he, in con- 
junction with the commissioners, laid out the 
town in equilateral blocks, e.xcept where the 
diagonal directions of the river and the frac- 
tional proportions on the east and south varied 
the iilan. Five streets were platted, running 
east and west ; the central one called Maine and 
the others named respectively. York. Jersey. 
Hampshire and Vermont, after the states from 
whence came the three commissioners and the 
clerk, six streets running north and south, 
after Front were, consecutively numbered from 
the river eastward. 

In making this survey and plat, the leading 
idea with all was to reserve for the "public 
uses" the highest, most central and level 
ground so far as was possible. Tliese surveys 
were made entirely in rods, not feet. The 
blocks, lots (where not fractional of necessity) 
and the streets, were uniformly laid out thus: 
Blocks twenty-four rods square: lots twelve 
rods deep, and .six rods wide : streets four rods 
wide, except llaine street, which was given five 
rods. Block number twelve (now Washington 
Park) was reserved as a public square. It was 
choice ground for such a use, and in relation 
thereto, "many a hard fought battle at the polls 
was made to preserve the public square from 
desecration by those who cov;ld conceive no 
other utility for the square than to make it the 
receptacle of every Iniilding that could be 
thought of, from the court house and the jail 
to the butcher's stall." The tirst butcher in 
Quincy spiked a Avooden bar to a tree in the 
square, and hung his meat on it. When the 
community consumed the meat, and he con- 
cluded it would be ready for further consump- 
tion, he killed another animal. Besides the 
reservation above stated, there was also 
set apart a strip of land along the river for the 
purposes of a public landing, and all the tier 
of lots on Fifth street, between Elaine and 
Hampshire for "public uses." Also that por- 
tion of the present Sixth street with all east 
thereof: now known as Block 31. 32. 33, 34, 35 



and 36 ; and the front tier of lots along the 
river from ]\Iaine street south, were marked on 
the plat as "unapj^ropriated ground," remain- 
ing thus until laid oft' in lots on a supijlemental 
plan March 4th, 1828. 

In 1826, the south half of what is now called 
Jeft'erson Square was reserved as a "burial 
ground for the people of Adams County." and 
the lot on Fifth street immediately north of the 
court house for school purposes. 

The sale occurred as ordered, having been 
duly advertised in the St. Louis and Edwards- 
ville papers, on the 13th day of December. It 
was continued from time to time, as the county 
connnissioners ordereil, and the last of the lots 
were sold in 1836, about the time the second 
court house was built. 

Thei-e was but little speculation in the origi- 
nal "town quaiter. " Although it had been ex- 
tensively advertised, when came the sale day, 
few outsiders were present to buy, and the resi- 
dent neighbors had no means after buying their 
corn bread and bacon to .spare for speculative 
purposes. The only foreign purchaser was a 
Dr. Mullen, an army surgeon, who happened to 
be present, at the time of sale and bought a few 
lots. All the other lots sold were taken by the 
town and county people. 

Deeds were not given at once, as the title 
had not at the time of the first sale been 
formally received. Several years elapsed before 
complete conveyances were made, and, in the 
meantime many of the original purchasers hav- 
ing assigned their bonds, the title in such cases 
was made by the commissioners direct to the 
assignees. The terms were one-fourth cash, and 
the remainder in three annual payments. 

The following are some of the prices paid: 
Lots 1 and 2, block 19. being the southwest cor- 
ner of Fifth and Elaine, running half way to 
Fourth sti-eet, was bought for" .$30.00. The 
other portion of the groxuid to Fourth street, 
now including the Daneke building and the 
(,)UIX('Y (Newcomb) House, was bought for 
$46.00. The corner, 99 by 198 feet, on which 
now stands the QUINCY (Newcomb) House 
brought $27.00, the highest pi'ice paid for prop- 
erty located around the square. Two hiTudred 
feet north from, and including the old post 
otfice corner on Foiu'th street, was .struck off 
for $29.00. The Park corner (ilaine and 
Fourth), 99 feet on Maine street and 198 feet on 
Fourth, sold for $18.25. The corner of ilaine 
and Fifth on which stands the Flach's building, 
sold (99 feet on :\raine .street and 198 on Fifth) 
for $16.25. 

The f<illowing is a schedule of the first day's 
sale: 



•AST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



23 



[\Uh-1 


; lA>i 


I'l-ic-o 


I'.l.M-k 


hot 


I'riuc 


.") 


-> 


•■l; 6.0(1 


17 


• ) 


$ 4.00 


b 


:i 


•Ji.oo 


17 


3 


6.00 





4 


iii).,")() 


17 


4 


12.25 


5 


5 


25..")() 


17 


5 


5.00 


5 


6 


38.()(t 


17 


6 


5.50 


6 


3 


30.(M) 


17 


7 


10.00 


(j 


4 


20.(1(1 


17 


8 


10.00 


() 


5 


19.00 


is 


1 


18.25 


6 


6 


18.50 


18 


2 


18.00 


13 


4 


11.00 


IS 


■■i 


14.50 


13 


5 


18.00 


IS 


4 


U..50 


13 


6 


20.00 


is 


.) 


14.50 


13 


7 


;i.oo 


IS 


6 


12.50 


1-t 


5 


."').:)0 


IS 


7 


14.25 


14 


6 


7.00 


is 


s 


4.50 


14 


( 


li.OO 


11) 


1 


13.25 


14 


8 


:»..')0 


11) 


-) 


16.75 


15 


3 


1!l..',0 


l!i 


:1 


1!).0() 


15 


4 


12.00 


r.) 


4 


27.00 


15 


5 


12.00 


l!l 


5 


18.00 


15 


6 


19.5( I 


11) 


() 


14.00 


15 


7 


6..')(i 


1!) 


1 


16.00 


15 


8 


10.00 


1!) 


8 


14.00 


16 


1 


15.00 


20 


4 


16.25 


16 


2 


6.50 


20 


5 


8.00 


17 


1 


5.5(1 









'I'lie yrouud on •which uow sluuds the 
QUINCY (Newcomb) House brought the high- 
est i)ri{'e of any on the hill. Rufus Brown, the 
first liotel Jveeper, bought it for a tavern stand, 
foi' which ])uri3ose it has always been used. It 
was i)art of the high, narrow i)rairie ridge that 
lan northeast and southwest across the public 
s(iuare, and was of coui'se. in demand. Lots on 
the river bank stimulated the most competition. 
The only house on the quarter section was the 
cabin of Willard Keyes. The highest price paid 
for any one lot was $38.00 and proportionately 
for others in block five and si.x: on Front Street. 
The reason was, that there, Keyes had settled 
the year before, and an unfriendly acquaint- 
ance forced him to bid high to save his improve- 
ments. It may he said, however, in passing, 
that the worthy pioneei' lost nothing, eventual- 
ly, hy his purchase. For inslaiu-e. thirty years 
later, a pai'1 of lot thi-ee. block 6, one hundred 
feet in depth, lu' sold to the writer at the rate 
of ifilOO per front fool. The whole lot 99 by 198 
feet, had cost him in 1825, *21.00. 

The first courthouse was located by order of 
the Conunissioners, Decembei' 17th, 1825, on lot 
six. block eleven. This placed it in the edge of 
a nalunil i;i-iive on Fifth street, iu''ar the cornei- 



of .Maine, where now stands what is known as 
the Dodd building. It faced west. "At the 
meeting on December 16th, 1825, the County 
Connnissioners ordered that the sherift' let to 
the lowest bidder the work of building a court- 
house, to be twenty feet long, eighteen feet 
wide, of hewn logs seven inches thick and to face 
ten inches, to be laid as ch)se together as they 
are in J, Rose's house," (this was the cabin of 
Jolin Wood, the first and model house of the 
place, in which Wood and Hose lived), the 
l(jwer story to be eight feet high, the building 
to have nine joists, eight sleepers, to be covered 
with clai)lioai'(ls an<l to be completed by Jlai'ch 
15th, 1826. The woi-k of putting up the logs 
was let to .John h. Soule, for !i;79.00. The other 
ct)nti'actors were Willard Keyes, .');25.00: John 
Soule, stairways, etc., $32.00: Levi Hadley, 
chimneys, etc.. $49.50. Some minor contracts 
called for the tinishiug work to be completed 
by May 15th, 1826. 

The organization of the comity, of necessity. 
developeiJ and made mutually acquainted the 
scattered immigration that had slowly come in 
(luring the iiast two years. 

The residents of Adams and Hancock Coun- 
ties are almost completely embraced in the fol- 
lowing list and their families: 

Willard Keyes, Joshua Streeter, John Wood, 
Asa Tyrer. p]arl Wilson, Daniel Whipple, Sam- 
uel Seward, lleniy Jacobs, Jesse Cox. John L. 
Soule, Dr. Thos. Baker, John Droulard, Ira 
Pierce, Hezekiah Spillman, Benjamin JleXitt, 
H. H. Snow, Jeremiah Rose, from QUINCY 
;ind neighborhood; Samnel Stone, L. C. K. 
Hamilton, Peter Journey, Levi Wells, Fernando 
Slayton, Ebeuezer Harkness, Abijah Cadwell, 
the two Jolm Thomases, Rial Ci-andall, Levi 
Iladley. Amos Bancroft, Daniel ]\[oore, Thos 
]\IcCraney, Zepheniah Ames, David and Ames 
Beebe. Elias Adams, John Waggoner, Justus 
I. Pei'igo, Jesse Coxe, Daniel Lisle, fz'om the 
southern part of the county: Luther Whitney, 
Peter Williams, Hiram R. llawley, Lewis Kin- 
ney, Samuel Croshong, (George Camjibell, Rich- 
ard Worley, from Hancock and the northern 
section ; and Wm. Jashley. Jeremiah Hill. Ben- 
jamin Her, David Ray, Wm. Snow, James 
Adams, Silas Brooks, Jas, Green, Thomas Fore- 
man, William Bai'i'itt, Cyi-us Hibbard and ^lor- 
rel ^farston. from different hn-alities. ^lost of 
these came into the county during this or the 
l)receding year, and the names may be recog- 
nized as those of families now residing in the 
countv. 



24 



PAST AND PEESENT OF ADA:\I8 COUNTY 



CHAPTER Yin. 

1826. 

POLITICAL. FIRST LEGISLATIVE MENTION OF 
QUINCY. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS' SALE OF 
LOTS. FIRST HOTEL AND HOTEL PRICES. 
FIRST GENERAL STORE. FREE AND EASY SO- 
CIAL LIFE. 

The second year (,1826) of Quiuey's existence 
as the county seat saw slight and slow changes 
in its appearance and population. The same 
may be said of the county, Avhich, however, 
grew a little faster. Trade, that great quiekener 
of prosperitj^, was, from lack of production and 
market, as yet almost altogether wanting. 

The general political reeoi'd for this year 
shows the election of Ninian Edwards, former 
territorial governor and first United States 
senator, as governor, and Wm. Kinney, a Bap- 
tist clergyman, as lieutenant governor. They 
were men of very different personal aiapearance 
and characteristics. Edwards was a gifted, 
polished, proud, self-conscious gentleman, while 
Kinney, a shrewd, aspiring politician, and 
adroit on the stump, had none of these qualities. 
Joseph Duncan of ^Morgan county, one of the 
best public men of the past, was elected rep- 
resentative to congress, (Illinois was then en- 
titled to but one), over Daniel P. Cook, (a most 
able and popular man, the son-in-law of Gov. 
Edwards), who had held this office for several 
years. 

The special session of the legislature of 1825- 
26. passed January 22ud, 1826, a state reap- 
pointment act, under which Pike, Adams, 
Schuyler, Pulton and Peoria counties and the 
region north, were constituted a representative 
district, which elected Levi Roberts and Henry 
J. Ross to the lower house of the general assem- 
bly. At the same session, a senatorial district 
was established, comprising the same counties, 
with the addition of i\Iorgan. As this law 
changed the former senatorial districts, a 
singular proviso was added, to the effect that 
if in the new district thus constituted, the 
senator to be elected should be chosen from 
Morgan County, the then sitting senator (Car- 
lin) should hold over and be considered as the 
senator for the old district of Adams. Archi- 
bald Job was elected from Morgan, and thus 
Carlin, who resided in Greene county, remained 
as the senator. It was charged that there was 
a .iob in this legislation, but what it may have 
been was of but temporary interest and soon 
forgotten. 

The first legislative mention of "Quincy" was 
in that session of 1826, Avhen commissioners 
were appointed to locate a State road from 



Quincy to Springfield. Tliis was done, but for 
many years its line was only known by the 
"blazes" on the trees through the untraveled 
forest. A law passed January 27th, 1826, im- 
posed a graded assessment iipon the several 
counties of the IMilitary Tract, for the State 
revenue. Under this act, the assessment against 
Adams county was fixed at $200 per annum. 
The Judiciary law, which had been operative 
for the past two years was remodeled at the 
session of 1826-27 and new appointments made 
of circuit .judges. To the circuit composed 
of the IMilitary Tract, with a few counties east 
of the Illinois river added, Samuel D. Lock- 
wood, of Jacksonville, was assigned, succeeding 
John Yorcke Sawyer. Judge Lockwood, a most 
superior man, held this position until 1831, 

The county commissioners this year were Levi 
Wells, John A. Wakefield and Luther Whit- 
ney, — the last named, a resident of what is now 
Hancock county. Whitney and Wakefield suc- 
ceeded Keyes and Journey. Wakefield was a 
cpiaint character; he left Adams county soon 
after his terju of office expired, and many years 
after came to the surface during the "Border 
Ruffian" times of Kansas. His title to im- 
mortality rests on his "Histoxy of the Black 
Hawk War," (written some forty-five or more 
years ago) ; an amusing publication, made up of 
the narration of some valuable facts, inter- 
spersed with whimsical expressions that Josh 
Billings or Mark Twain might envy. One of 
these we recall. He describes the army as mov- 
ing "at a left angle," 

Frequent meetings of the commissioners' 
court were necessarily held to provide for and 
protect the growing wants and interests of the 
new community. At their March meeting they 
appointed Levi Hadley county assessor, and at 
the same meeting, a sale (the second one) of 
town lots, was ordered to be lield on the ISth of 
the following ^May. Tliis sale, advertised, as 
had been the preceding one, in the St. Louis 
and Edwardsville papers, did not attract, as 
was hoped, purchasers from abroad, and the 
scale of prices does not appear to have material- 
ly changed. There was then, as now, much 
more land than money in Illinois, and the dis- 
tance between the two factors was infinitely 
greater than at present. A portion of the sup- 
posed most desirable lots which had been re- 
served from the first sale, were now placed on 
the market, with what result we shall see. These 
prices may prove a curious study to speculators 
of the present day. 

The corner of Fourth and Hampshire, run- 
ning south on Fourth 196 feet, half way to 
iMaine, sold for $35.50. On the north side of 
Hampshire, between Fourth and Fifth, the four 



PAST AND I'JiESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



25 



lots, Xos. 5, 6, 7, 8, comprising all on Ihe north On June (Jtli tlie ferry franchise was granted 
side of the public square, sold respectivel.y for to Ira Pierce for ten yeai's for the sum of $55. 
$14.25, .$18, $18.25 and $1:]; total $C5.50. Lot The courthouse was so far completed as to be 
8, at the corner of Ilami)shii'c and Fifth, it ready for use during the spring of this year. It 
Mill lie seen brought the lowest figure. The was occupied luitil its destruction by fire in the 
reason was that it was cut by a ravine, and the winter of 1885. At the 5th of September meet- 
front lay some feet lower than the street. West ing a pound or stray pen was ordered to be 
of Fourth street, on the north side of Ilamp- built, near the courthouse, and at a later meet- 
shiic. tht' entire frontage of three lots, Xos. 6, ing the contract was assigned to James B. Petit 
7 antl 8. 2'J7 feet, running west to lot No. 5, for $51. 

which was reserved as the market lot, sold for As stated in the preceding chapter at the 
$24. East of the square, specnlatiou went more meeting of the commissioners, on December 
wild, 198 feet along the south side of llamp- 4th, it was ordei'ed that the south half of block 
shire street, embi-aeing the property afterward mie (1) .should be set off for a burial ground for 
occupied by the Adamy, Peine and Dutcher the peojile of Adams County. This is the south 
buildings, was sold for $14.25. The entire front half of what is now Jefferson Square, on which 
of Hampshire street on the north side between the courthouse now stands. It was used as a 
Fifth anil Sixth streets, was knocked off at biu-ying ground for about nine years, when the 
$28.25: the corner lot (northeast corner of ground at the southeast corner of Maine and 
Hampshire and Fifth (1886), 99 feet being a Twenty-fourth streets was purchased for that 
deep ravine), sold for $3.25. Coi-responding purpose, and no intei'ments were afterwards 
prices ruled elsewhere, but the above were the made in the old cemetery. IMany bodies were 
choice lots. It Avill be noticed that most of removed to the new grounds, but many graves 
these sales were of lots on or touching on Ilamp- could not bo identified, and their contents were 
shire street. The reason for this was that there- not disturbed. The remains of the ancestors of 
on was almost the only level land. Fourth many of our present people, are there, along 
street was broken near JIaine by a ravine which with the many ti-ansient and unknown travelersj 
ran diagonally across the block, west of the who here died. Governor Hubbard, the second 
square from southeast to northwest. ]Maine governor of the state, was there interred, but 
street on Sixth was impassible on account of a his place of burial can not be found, 
broad ravine some thirty feet in depth. South- Many years later, the north half of this block, 
east of Maine and the sqiiare, the ground was which Avas a deep ravine, originally considered 
greatly broken, north of Hampshire the same, as almost worthless, was purchased from pri- 
while Hampshire street itself from Sixth to rate parties. The ground was used for school 
Eighth street, ran for some distance on an al- purposes for some years. After much discus- 
most even ridge and gave the easiest access to sion and question of title between the cit}^, 
the surrounding country. county, etc., the imposing courthouse, alike our 

At the same meeting the county commis- county convenience and pride, was erected 

sioners issued the iarst tavern license to Rufus thereon in 1876. 

Brown, at the rate of $10 per annum, and estab- Sometime in the summer or fall of this year 

lished tavern rates also. (1826) Asher Anderson, to whom belongs the 

Brown opened his cabin hotel at the corner distinction of having been the first merchant to 

of Fourth and Maine streets, where the locate in Quincy, opened a s)nall stock of goods 

QUINCY (Newcomb) House now stands. Later in the bar room of Rufus Brown's tavei'n. This 

in the year, George "W. Hight opened a tavern was a pleasing event, to the people and vicinity, 

under the hill, on Front .street. This building One can scarcely conceive the thrill that ran 

still stands. The tavern rates as established by through the little settlement when it was an- 

the commissioners were for nounced that "a store" was about to be started. 

Up to this time all trading had been done with 

Siuiile meal of victuals $ .25 and purchases nuide from transient trading 

Lodging 121/0 boats. 

V2 Pt. Avhiskey 12Vo These were either keel or flat or "mackinaw" 

14 pt. rum 18% boats, freighted at St. Louis with a miscel- 

V2 pt. gin 18-?4 laneous assortment of such articles as were the 

V2 pf ■ French brandy STi/o most in demand and essential to the wants of 

I/O pt. wine .S7I0 new communities, cotton goods, shoes. hard- 
Bottle of wine 1.00 ware, crockery, tin utensils, groceries, etc. 

Horse feed for night, fodder and grain . . .25 Laden with these, they woidd periodically ap- 

Horse feed, single 12' o pear at the various landings on the river, lying 



26 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAilS COUNTY. 



at each for a week or two, and after satisfying 
the needs of the several localities by disposing 
of their stock at fabulous i^rotits, drop down to 
St. Louis to replenish. They usually made three 
or four trips in a season. Sometimes, though 
rarely, one settler abler than the rest, would go 
to St. Louis, Louisiana or Pahn.yra, where pur- 
chases could be made at better rates. 

It should be known that northwestern Mis.s- 
ouri was 2nuch advanced beyond the adjacent 
section of Illinois in its period of settlement, 
owing to the fact that the jniblic hindsthere were 
thrown early into market, Louisiana was. up 
to about the time of the location of QUINCY as 
the county seat, the general mail depot for the 
surroiTuding country. Each week a squad of 
soldiers from Port Edwards (now Warsaw) 
were sent down the river to Louisiana to bring 
up the military mail that came to that point 
from St. Louis, Palmyra, from the government 
aid that it had received, was like its classic 
prototype of old, a miuature "Queen of the 
Wilderness." ilr. Wood, relates that during 
this year, the day before his marriage, he 
walked down to opposite the mouth of the 
Fabius, canoed over the river, thence footed it 
to Palmyra to purchase a pair of shoes for his 
"bride to wear" at the ceremony of the follow- 
ing clay, returning the same way that he went. 
It was a long, hard tramp, but undoubtedly the 
good man felt, especially on his return, that he 
was faithfully walking into his lady-love's 
affections. 

It is pleasant to imagine the visions of 
painted calicoes, strong brogans, brilliant blue 
table-dishes, many-colored ribbons, household 
articles and all the shopping delights ready to 
hand, that filled the minds of the people of the 
little hamlet when Anderson announced and 
opened his budget of goods, and they felt that 
at last they had a store of their own. The 
stock, of course, was small, of less than one 
thousand dollars in value, of a miscellaneous 
nature, but suited to the simple needs of the 
plain people. 

For the two following years Anderson re- 
tained the monopoly of trade. He was enter- 
prising, generous in his dealings and prospered, 
except that at one time, almo.st his entire ac- 
cumulation of profits was stolen by a runaway 
and defaulting county official. Soon after he 
came, he established his store on the northeast 
corner of Third and Maine streets, where he 
continued his business until his death from 
cholora in 1833. 

An amusing and truthful story is told of a 
piece of luck that befell him. and which at first, 
seemed to be a sad disaster. The second year 
after his removal, encouraged by his success 



and desirous of enjoying his monopoly while 
the day lasted, he purchased a stock amounting 
to over $3,000. The steamboat on which he had 
shipped his goods, sunk some distance below, 
but after being luider water for some time, Avas 
raised, and came with the damaged freight to 
QUINCY. A large portion of the goods con- 
sisted of colored prints, muslins, shawls, hand- 
kerchiefs, ribbons, etc., the hues of Avhich, after 
so long soaking in the water, had all "run to- 
gether." making a most brilliant blending of 
indechipherable figures and designs. Anderson 
was in dismay, but. with a wild hope of saving 
something from his wrecked fortune, he ottered 
the goods at public auctions, and to his great 
surprise, and satisfaction, so strongly did these 
hotch-pot-colored goods catch the fancy of the 
settlers, that he realized a profit from their sale 
which enabled him to lay in a larger stock than 
before. This demonstrates that in crude, as 
in more pretentious communities, an absurdity 
most easily becomes a fashion, and that auction 
fevers were then as epidemic as now. 

These times contrast strangely with the ap- 
pearances of to-day. It is not easy to imagine, 
looking from within our present svirroundings, 
our queen-like city, proud, active, solid, planted 
with massive .structures, — abiding tokens of in- 
dustry and wealth ; and the full-peopled county, 
with the well reaped lewards of toil and thrift 
treasures gathered from its willing soil, these 
past scenes of but little over fifty years ago ; 
when every habitation was built of logs, every 
Hoor (wliere fioor there Avas) made from 
puncheons, every chimney and fire-place either 
raised with rough stones "chinked" with mud, 
or constructed of sticks and mud, when not a 
brick had been moulded or laid in the county, 
and mortar, laths, shingles, and paint, and all 
such articles were as yet iniknown. 

Still, all these deprivations of that whicli 
belongs to higher social comfort were scarcely 
then felt, because they were universal. The 
course of life in those days was enjoyable and 
good. Most of the people were young and the 
novel, Avild life, suited their careless adven- 
turous natures. Their needs were few and Avere 
easily provided for. Food came almost spon- 
taneously. The forests Avere full of game: the 
ponds and rivers sAvarmed Avith fish : their cattle 
had unlimited pasture ; in their little farm en- 
closures, the rich, ripe soil returned a generoiis 
yield of domestic A'egetables. grain and fruits. 
But little surplus Avas raised as there Avas no 
market of conseqiience. Jeans and linsey 
Avoolsey ansAverecl for outer clothing. Those 
AA'ho could, indulged in calico and shoes, those 
AA'ho could not did Avithout. 

The people Avere all alike : they all kncAv each 



I'AS'I' AM) I'KKSIvXT OF ADA.MS CorXTV 



27 



otliLT; tlu'.N' were as soeial as ilistaiiees would 
permit, and theii- abundant leisure allowed tlie 
cultivatiDU of this soeiality. Their partial se- 
clusion I'l'diii I lie busier wurhl |)ronHited soci;il 
habits, thrown as they were upon their own re- 
sources and each other's aitl. Xo dress dis- 
tinct inns cxislcil : 11(1 "society sets'" were 
known. Hospitality was the universal rule. 
Every man's house was a free resort i'oi- the 
lUMi;hiior or travejci-. thouuh the latter lie a 
strani;(M'. XCws troni abroad was common pi'op- 
erty. Xewspajiers passed from hand to hand, 
and their fortunate recipient was generally re- 
((uircil Id i-ead lo a sun-oiindinL;' company. Each 
ti'a\elc|- or new settler, must unfold liis budt;'et 
of news, all that he had seen or known or had 
■"hear'n tell" in his distant foi'incr hoine, or 
leai-ned on his way to the West. 

The week days were periods of steady, but 
easy lalxu-. Suiulays were hours of (piiet rest 
for some, of whole family visits for others, 
where a natural exchange was made of all that 
either had learned during the week, and for 
others less reverential or le.ss social, they were 
good days for hunting and fishing. The 
nu>notony was varied by the arrival of the scant 
weekly mail or the occasional landing of 
steamers, which passed rarely, at iiregular 
times, and sometimes did not stop, and again by 
the advent of the new settler, which was always 
a sensation — either the "mover," as the better 
to do imnugrant was called, who came with his 
family and household goods in a covered one or 
two horse wagon, or the poorei- "packer." who 
trudged along with his woi-ldly possessions 
strapped upon a hoi'se's back, each of the 
travelei's being accom])anied by a few cattle 
and one or two dogs. They would stay at the 
village a few days, while the head of the house- 
hold, if a land-owner, would, under the giud- 
anee f)f some earlier settler, seek out the cor- 
ners of his land, marked as they wouhl be by 
blazed trees in the timber and small earth 
mounds, stone jiiles or half-charred stakes set 
np on the i)rairies. Almost any of the older 
settlers wei-e thoroughly posted in the finding 
of those surve.v marks. The land found, the 
settler would select and clear off his building 
spot, usually near a brook or spring, if jjossible, 
then with the aid of a few of his nearest neigh- 
bors, erect his humble cabin, i)lant his family 
therein and settle dowu to the development ami 
improvement of his future home. 

The i)oor i)acker. usually having no land of his 
own to look nj). would disa|)pear after a few 
days, and might later be seen or heard of as 
having "scpuitted'' in the brush near a spring, 
on some vacant laud belonging either to Uncle 
Sam or to some eastern non-resident. ]\[ost of 



this class, as civilization advanced and settle- 
ments thickened, pulled up their stakes (usually 
they had little else to pull up) and struck out 
for a still farther West, where they could find 
"more room." 

Th(>re was occasional ])reaching by itinerant 
preachers of various sects and all shades of 
character. Home of these were good and earnest 
men. othei's. and most of them, however, were 
men whose toughiu>ss of cheek and volume of 
voice were the only ati)nements for their lack 
of mental capacity. The coming of these clergy- 
men was generally known well in advance 
throughout the conununity, and as a general 
rule, everybody attentleil. 

Election day. county court meetings and cir- 
cuit court week, of course, brought quite a 
general attendance of the coinitry folks, and 
the village was then well enlivened by horse 
and foot races, jumping matches and target 
shooting for turkeys or beef, the day almost in- 
variably ending oit' with more than one "rough 
and tumble" fight. 

There Avere often i)l(>asant social gatherings. 
the picnic, the ((uilting. the wedding, and if at 
these, dress, polish or manner and fashion were 
missing-, substantial profusion and innocent, 
hearty .jollity and zest more than made amends. 
But these primitive times, with their wild fas- 
cinations and easily entlured toils and cares 
have gone, like the clouds of their accompany- 
ing years, and have left no like, and never can 
there be their like again. The footprints made 
and the lines then drawn have been swept away 
by the resistless wave of change, and no similar 
field now awaits the entrance of young and 
eager adventurers. Pioneerism and civilization 
now move side by side. As was well said by an 
old pioneer who thirty years ago visited the 
El Dorado of the Pacific Coast (then just open 
to the wondrous rush of the gold seekers! and 
again, twenty years latei'. rejjeated his trip, "I 
have seen three great Wests in m.v life time: 
one in Avestern XeAV York, one in Illinois aiul 
one in California, but there is not now and can 
never be a West like the past. 



ciiAi'THi; i:\. 

18-J7. 



SLOW GRO\ATH. FIRST SCHOOL. FIRST PREACH- 
ING. SCARCITY OF SCHOOL BOOKS. ILLIXOIS- 
lANS CALLED "SUCKERS." 

Quincy was two years old in 1827, but little 
occurred during the year worthy of record. 
The eve teeth of the future "Gem City" cut 



28 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAilS COUNTY. 



very slowly. It had very few people, none with 
capital, and the iudneenients to settle here were 
not tempting. It had not many enterprising 
men, such as usuallj' take the lead in enter- 
prising cities. Quiney, like Topsj', had to "come 
to herself," and "just grow." 

Trade was trifling; money was a curiosity. 
Beeswax and coonskins were the readiest and 
most general circulating media; the limited 
agricultural production from the country ad- 
jacent, utterly failing as yet to make it, even 
incipiently, the generous and well known mart, 
for which it was so well fitted by situation, and 
which it has since become. 

True, it -would boast at the commencement of 
the year, of a courthouse, liotel and store, sad- 
dle, shoemaker and blacksmith shop, in or just 
on the edge of town, and a doctor only a mile 
or two away. Its morals were presumably good, 
as neither preacher nor lawyer had settled 
within it. It has some half dozen "first settlers" 
in the country about it, yet there were only 
about a dozen families in the town, and most 
of these had but just begun to be established, 
and were as new as the town. There were, 
however, during the year, added to the above, 
a school house and a groceiy; at one or the 
other of which, mental or physical satisfaction 
could be imliibed, though the inhibitions of 
the latter institution were the more favorite and 
general. 

The school was opened late in the year in the 
recently finished courthouse, the teacher being 
Rev, Jabez Porter, a Presbyterian clergyman, 
from Abingdon, Mass., a man of much more 
than ordinary culture, a graduate of a New 
England college. He was in feeble health, and 
came West in hope of restoration. He lived for 
several years, and in the year 1828, commenced 
the first regular preaching known in Quiney (at 
the courthouse). He died iu 1831 or '32, His 
school was very select as to cjuantity, if not as 
to qiiality. Among the half score of new fam- 
ilies in Quiney and the vicinity, children were 
a rare and somewhat curioiis luxury, and a few 
of the scholars were as old as himself, young 
men and women who had had no educational 
opportunities and sought this opportunity to 
leai-n how to read and write. 

It is touching to think of the difficulties in the 
way of those who desired education in those 
days. Of course, spelling, reading, writing and 
arithmetic were the four corner stones, but the 
trouble was, that no text books could be ob- 
tained, and pupils had to furnish their own. 
Spelling was comparatively the easiest, because 
there were spelling books and primei's. Gram- 
mar was ruled by the way the school master 
talked. True, an occasional Lindlev Mi;rray 



might tiu'n up, and there was no great difficulty 
as to writing, that, of course was a mechanical 
studj-, which could take care of itself. 
(4eograph3' was somewhat easily taught, as 
maps will find their way everyAvhere, and more 
or less of geographical information is in all 
families; but when it came to reading, which, 
is instinctively and properly, the first thought 
and desire of all, there were no "Readers" to 
be obtained ; each one must furnish his or her 
own reading book. 

The writer recalls the scene, Avhen but a year 
or two later than the date of this chapter, a 
school was started by Mr, "Pedagogue Sey- 
mour," as he was called, we, the writer and his 
relatives, presented ourselves with Olney's 
geography, Kirkham's grammar, and "Wor- 
cester's readers. Of some forty scholars, all 
but, say half a dozen, were equipped with read- 
ers, most of them Testaments, two or three the 
old ^Methodist green, paper covered little hymn 
iKiok, one or two with an old novel or history, 
and three of the boys had an outfit unique. One 
had a French volume of Voltaire's life of 
Charles the XII, which neither he. nor his 
parents, nor perhaps the teacher could read, 
another had a congressional pamphlet, which 
probably had been sent to his father on the 
"propriety of running the mails on the Sab- 
batli." The last one, who, by the way. figured 
afterward briefly in congress, had a huge book 
(as a reader) nearly as big as himself, which 
in some way had fallen into his family's hands. 
It was the translation of an enormous volume of 
tlie life of Napoleon Bonaparte, We can 
never forget his reading of the first lines of the 
book, "Napoleon Bonaparte was born August 
15th. 1779. at Ajacio, in Corsica," His voice 
always cracked at Ajacio, and broke at "Cor- 
seeker," as he could not help calling it. 

The school business was neither very exten- 
sive, nor profitable during these days, for the 
reason, that, there were but few "young ideas 
to shoot," and also that the older ideas shot 
mostly after another fashion. For some years 
the log cabin court house was the only build- 
ing where "school was kept." It was also the 
"church" and was made \ise of for all general 
purposes, since it was the only structure in the 
place big enough for such uses, or that could be 
spared. As has been before said, the business 
and social features of the place exhibited but 
little noticeable change since 1826, but there did, 
during this year, sweep over the West a most 
memorable wave of excitement, which, while 
it retarded rather than advanced the pros- 
pects of Quiney for a time, is woi'thy of a pass- 
ing mention. 

This was the "lead fever" at Galena, equal 



PAST AM) I'liKSENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



29 



(takiug into accouut the dilfei-enee in the con- 
ditions of the country) to that hiter furore 
which, in 1848, spurred westward that count- 
less swarm of eager seekers, crazed by the 
glitter of California's yellow treasures. Strange 
it is with what an universal and electric grasp, 
the mining mania will take possession of a peo- 
ple. Let but the rumor start that there has 
been found in a "hole iu the ground," some- 
thing shining and new, and there is at once, 
"down with the sliovel and the hoe," away with 
the yarilstick and pen, sell oil' the stock, shut 
up the shop, and all coat tails point horizou- 
tally, straight backwards as men frautically 
rush to where thej^ hope to get rich in a min- 
ute. For one lucky blunderer who returns with 
a better suit of clothes than he wore away, 
there are a thousand who do not. 

Out of the hundreds who left t^viincy in 1S48 
for the Pacific Coast, we cannot remember one 
who came back with fortunes bettered. They 
had, however, acquired "experience." 

This "lead fever" was a hot — yes a melting 
one. Tiie tide of northern travel was wonder- 
fully increased in volume. Why it should then 
have become so, one cannot divine. Lead had 
been known to exist, and had been worked for 
in that section for many years, by the Indians 
long ago, but this year on a sudden, all "went 
for it." The creeping keel boat which until 
this lime, had controlled almost the entire 
transi)ortation of the river, was now outdone 
by rapid .steamers. These, the Shamrock, and 
Lidiana, and perhaps another which heretofore 
had two or three times during the season, made 
trips from St. IjOuIs to "the mines." were now 
in constant motion, their decks swarming with 
people. One-third, probably of the residents 
of Quincy, (many of them with their families) 
moved up "ter Galeny," as the expression 
went, and made temporary settlement there. 

It was from this streaming northwest of 
southern and central lUinoisians (soon to re- 
turn) that our State patronymic "Sucker." 
came. There is a clumsy, hnbberly fish in our 
Mississippi waters, shaped much like the cat- 
fish and occasionally nearly as large, known 
as the "Sucker" (U' "Kound-mouth." which 
swims mostly in the deep water near the bot- 
tom and rarely takes the hook. 

It was once quite numerous, but now is rarely 
seen. Its habit was to migrate northward early 
in the spi'ing, there spawn, and descend in the 
fall. It was remarked that many of the fam- 
ilies went up at the same time and returned at 
the same time, with an increased family, like 
the "Suckers." Hence the imme. ^Fost of the 
emigrants from one section, soon discovered 
that a surer source of substantial wealth, with 



less coarse toil, and more comforts, was in the 
rich lap of the prairie earth, of the lower sec- 
tions of the State, and this fever gradually 
abated, though continuing for some j'ears. 
Among those of our early settlers who moved 
with their families to the mines and spent the 
season there, were the late Levi Wells and John 
Wood. 

Daniel Lisle, who was the first settler in 
Adams county, was this year elected County 
Commissioner. He first located not far from 
the present town of Liberty. Weslej' Williams, 
brother of the well known Archie Williams, 
was appointed county treasurer. 

At the March term of the county commis- 
sioners' court, it was ordered that a jail be built 
at an expense of not over .$150.50, on lot 6, 
Idock 11, with very detailed and precise speci- 
fications. The upper story of the courthouse 
was ordered to be raised "two logs higher." 
Our fathers were evidently getting their heads 
up. 



CHAPTEi; X. 



1828. 

THE '-LEAD FEVER- HELPED QUINCT. JUDGE 
LX3CK\VOOD AND JUDGE YOUNG. NEW JAIL. 
FIRST CLERGYMAN. HOLMES OPENS A STORE. 
THE SECOND IN QUINCY. GOODS FREIGHTED 
ON KEEL BOATS. GENERAL APPEARANCE OF 
THE TOWN. ADVANCE IN PRICES OF LOTS. 
HIGH PRICE OF GOODS. STYLE OF DRESS. 
FASHIONS. THE LOG CABIN COOKING UTEN- 
SILS AND FURNITURE. 

Quincy was now three years of age. and still 
growing — or perhaps we should saj' growing 
still, for its growth was very modest and still. 
There were, however, some influences in oper- 
ation during this year, that tended materially 
to promote its future welfare. Most of the 
"Suckers" by this time had returned, sati- 
ated, from Galena, The attention that had been 
attracted to Illinois by the "lead fever" excite- 
ment was productive of some valuable results. 
It left stranded on our western or northwestern 
border, men of enterprise and activity whose 
industry and energy greatly aided the growth 
of the State. 

Now, as before, and for some j'ears. the 
county progressed in population more steadily 
than the town. Some political and business 
changes appear upon the record. The circuit 
eoui-t was still presided over by Judge Lock- 
Avood. who was regularly accompanied on his 
periodic semi-annual visit by a bevy of from 
a half-dozen to a dozen of lawyers. A. W. Caver- 
ly, of Greene county, was the prosecuting attor- 



30 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



iiey. Judge Caverly died iu 1875 at Ottawa, 111. 
He was at the time of his death, the oldest 
practieing lawyer of Illinois ; second only in 
legal seniority to Judge Sidney Breeze, who 
also passed into death soon after his life-long 
friend. Judge Caverly. Judge Breeze's legal 
life from ISIS, had been mainly passed i;pon 
the bench, while Caverly practiced as a lawyer. 
How these circuit riding lawyers managed to 
live was phenomenal, but they did and the like 
live yet, and that .same mystery exists today. 
Perhaps they lived off of each other like Sam 
Slick's two boys, whom he described as being 
"so smart that, if shut up together in a room, 
they would make two dollars a day each by 
swopping jack knives." 

The precision, dignity and decorum which 
the personal character and recognized capacity 
of Judge Lockwood, and also his successor 
Judge Young, impressed upon the administra- 
tion of law in this section, contrasting greatly 
with the laxaties in propriety that too much de- 
faced the western forum, were of strong and 
long effect in early establishing the marked pre- 
eminence of the Quincy bench and bar, which 
had been since so well maintained. 

Judge H. H. Snow continued to be the gen- 
eral office holder of the county and probate 
judge, county and circuit clerk and recorder 
and kept singing school beside. Ira Pierce 
was re-elected sheriff", an office which he held 
for ten years, until he left for Texas. Hugh 
White was surveyor, and Wesley Williams 
treasurer. Plerman Wallace succeeded Asa 
Tyrer as coroner at the August election. The 
county commissioners were James White and 
George Frazier. H. J. Ross, of Pike county, 
succeeded Carlin to the State senate: and A. W. 
Caverly of Greene, John Turney of Peoria, and 
John Austin of Jo Daviess county, were elected 
State representatives. 

One can obtain an idea of the spai'seness of 
population l)y noting the extent of this repre- 
sentative district, and the distance between the 
residences of the members. Joseph Dmican. of 
Morgan comity, was re-chosen representative 
to congress. His district embraced all that 
portion of the State north of and including 
Morgan county. His unsuccessful opponent was 
George Forquier of Sangamon county. The 
presidential vote of the State and of Adams 
connty. was cast for Andrew Jackson over 
John Quincy Adams. 

The county commissioners on September 3, 
1S28, ordered that lot 4, block 11, should be re- 
served "for the sole and only purpose of erect- 
ing thereon a school house or school houses, 
or an academy or seminary of learning," for 
the people of Adams county, and that the same 



should be exempted from taxation. It will be 
remembered that in the platting of the town 
in 1S25, the west half of block 11 was "reserved 
for public i^urposes." On this ground were 
erected the first two courthouses and jails. 

Lot 4r, set ajjart as above, is that part of this 
reserved ground, on which stood the north half 
of the lately burned courthouse, the line run- 
ning thence northward along Fifth sti-eet some 
sixty or seventy feet. It does not appear that 
this order of the court was permanently com- 
plied with, nor were the other reservations, but 
the land was graduall}^ disposed of, there re- 
maining only in the possession of the county 
that central portion on Avhieh the old court- 
house and jail stood and this, after the destruc- 
tive fire of 1875, and the erection of the present 
courthouse on Jefferson Scpiare, passed at pub- 
lic sale in private possession. 

At their meeting on December 4th, the county 
commissioners ordered that a clerk's office 
should be built and also a jail. These orders 
were carried out after a fashion, and completed 
some years later. The second stoiy of the 
courthouse, which Avas then the office of the 
county, the circuit clerk, recorder, and of Judge 
Snow generally, as he was the official 
"Omnium" of the county, was afterward the 
law office of the late Senator Browning, and 
yet later, when the courthouse was burned in 
1S35, was occupied as a carpenter sliop. The 
jail now ordered and finished a year or two 
later, was a quaint contrivance in the dungeon 
style ; the cell or place of confinement being in 
the lower story Avhich had grated windows, 
but no entrance opening except through a trap 
door from the second story floor. The moral im- 
pressions entertained by culprits when being 
sent down to punishment might, perhaps, be 
of value to the present time theologians in their 
controversies over what should be the most 
forcible and significant version of the word 
"Hades." 

The Iniilding was constructed of large logs. 
square hewn, and laid double tliick in the 
wall. 

Jabez Porter has been mentioned as the first 
minister to hold regular services. There were 
other clergymen who appeared from time to 
time of various denominations and equally vari- 
ous qualifications and characteristics. Somewere 
excellent, intelligent men and some otherwise, 
with a graduated scale of fitness, nnining be- 
tween the two extremes of qualifications and 
otherwise. There was a Mr. Bogard from a 
neighboring county, a very worthy, well-seem- 
ing, quiet man on the street, but when in the 
pulpit he stamped and roared almost so as to 
be heard in ^lorgan eountv, his home. There 



PAST AND I'KKSENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



31 



WJis llic \ii'\ . .Ml', luiiiriis, \\li(] was iiiiicli L;ivi'ii 
to "ilaiiin tliose sins lie had no iiiiiid to and fol- 
low those he felt iiicliiiod to." He dr-opped 
into one of .Mr. I'orter's )neetin<4s one Snnday 
at tlie eoui'thou.se, anil when .hidtre Snow com- 
menced tuninj^' at his l)aNs \ iol to lead the sing- 
ini;-. he left in holy hoiTor and went a ti.shing 
ill tlie bay. 'i"li('i-<' was also old nnele .Johnnie 
Kii-ki)ati-ick. one of the i)est men that ever lived 
and who always drew a full eahin when he 
pi'eaehed. His style was not [)attei'ned on 
Princeton or Harvard rules, but it was peculiar 
and effective. I remember one of his sermons. 
"Clu'istiaiis," he said, "don't go through the 
world blindfolded; they know jist whar thaire 
bound: that they are on th(> right track to 
heaven. Sup|)osiii', my brethren, you was going- 
to Atlas, yon wouldn't strike out back in the 
prairie, and take round the corner of Kej'es' 
fence. Xo, that M-ould take you to Fort Ed- 
ward, but you'd take down the river and be 
sure Von Mas on the right road, because you'd 
see Ihree notches ou the trees, and it's jist so 
with the Christian. He knows he's on the 
straight road to heaven, and there's notches all 
along th(> way. " 

lie was a worthy man and did much of good, 
and was better than the usual type of mo.st of 
the wandering i)reachers of the time. 

Additional to the other favorable influences 
operating this year, was the establishment of 
a store by Charles Holmes and Robert Tillson. 
Up to this time A.sher Anderson was the only 
merchant and held the monopoly of the trade. 
ITis "store," on the northeast corner of ]\[aine 
and 'I'hird streets was the only regular trading 
place in the village. There were the occasional 
groceries, where the ownership of a barrel or 
more of whiskey and nothing else, christened as 
"grocery." the cabin where the said whiskey 
was i>eddled out by the drink, but no varied 
stock of goods had until now appeared to con- 
test with Anderson for a share of the general 
trade. The story of IMr. Holmes, \\]\u preceded 
his partner in settlement, may be woi'tli i-ccifal 
as picturing the primitive condition ol' things 
in those early days. 

He had a store in St. Louis at that time, 
and haii])ening to stop over al Quincy. while 
on a tri]) to (falena, liked the jirospects of the 
l)lace and concluded to settle here. He found 
much difficulty and delay in getting his goods 
from St. Louis. Steamboats ran oidy occasicnial- 
ly and it was late in the season when sevei'al 
of them had been up for the yi^ar. The owners 
of the keel boats were unwilling to start unless 
fully freighted, and always charged the same 
for way freight that they did for what w^as to 
be transported to the end of their route. The 



reason for this was, that these boats rarely ob- 
tained many passengers or much freight after 
leaving i)ort, either on the passage np or the 
return. Hence the keel boats often laid long 
in poll. It was also somewhat the same with 
the steamboats. Old settlers can remember how 
steamboats, partiality laden, would lie at the St. 
Louis wharf for days in succession, with steam 
up and wheels moving, and in ajjparent instant 
readiness to move, while the captain would 
vigorously ring the bell alxuit every fifteen min- 
utes, constantly declaring that he would "leave 
right away." "He can lie like a steamboat 
captain," was the phrase which expressed the 
"idtima thule" of falsehood. 

Becoming weai-ied with waiting for a 
steamer, ]Mr. Holnies. in connection with two 
other young men, one of whom had a stock for 
Hannibal and the other foi- Palmyra, chartered 
a keel boat on which he shipped his goods, 
about four thousand dollaiT' worth of miscel- 
laneous merchandise. 

The boat reached Alton on the fourth day 
out. This seemed almost as slow as being at St. 
fjouis. ^Meeting there a descending steamer, the 
I^lack Rover, and finding that it would return 
in a day or two on its last trip np (this was 
November), Hr. Holmes took passage, reaching 
Qnincy in advance of his goods, which came 
along safely after a twenty days' trip from 
St. Louis. Keel boats which were then the 
most usual mediums of transportation (as 
steamers were few and irregular as well as 
expensive) w'ere propelled up stream sometimes 
by poling: but generally by "cordelling.'' that 
is, by passing long lines ahead, fastening them 
to ti-ees on the bank, and drawing the boat up 
thereby. This slow and monotonous process 
gave an average daily progress of about eight 
miles. Sometimes a favoring south wind bi-isk 
enough to overcome the current sprang up, and 
by s]ireading a large s(inare sail, tln^ speed 
would be greatly increased, with also miU'h sav- 
ing of labor. 

The first salutation that ^fr. Holmes received 
when his goods were landed was from Elam S. 
Freeman, who died at l^asco, Hancock county, 
about a year and a half ago. Freenum was a 
substantial, excellent man, who ac(|nired the 
title of major from service in the Black Hawk 
war in 1832-3, He was a blacksmith of herculean 
frame, and used a voice m full keeping with 
his size. "Young man." said he, "have you 
brought any vises with you." "No." said ]\[r. 
Hohues with a characteristic touch of humor, 
"but from the looks of things here I expect to 
get some soon.'' 

The town was indeed a i'orloi'n looking place. 
Tlii> blufps were uearh' barren of timber and 



32 



PAST A^D PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



seamed with ragged gullies; along the river's 
brink was strung a scanty fringe of feeble 
trees. A few cabins lay along Front street look- 
ing as if they might have tmnbled down the 
hill and were too feeble to return. These were 
mostly north of Hampshire street, and extend- 
ing in a broken string as far up as the little 
cove in the bluff, where Spring street comes 
through. Among these was the cabin of Wil- 
lard Keyes, about the corner of Vermont street, 
and just south of this, with 'some houses be- 
tween, was a little larger double cabin than the 
others, wliieh was George W. Ilight's "Steam- 
boat Hotel." Three or four of the buildings 
were groceries, of the style spoken of hereto- 
fore, and patronized mostly by boatmen and 
Indians. Thence southward on Front street was 
the cabin of John Wood at the foot of Delaware 
street. Between these two points was the cabin 
of Levi Wells, half way up the hill near State 
street, and fartlier north three or four more 
siich structures hung against the hillside. The 
steamboat landing was at the foot of Vermont 
street. There, the rock from under the bluff 
cropped out at the river's edge, so as to be 
visible at an ordinary stage of water. Three 
or four ragged looking trees grew near the 
bank, convenient for the boats to tie to. These 
appearances continued for many years, even 
mitil the small landing was made at the foot of 
Hampshire in 1839. 

There were but two routes by which wagons 
could ascend the hill : one, south of the village 
along the Milnor creek and where now is Dela- 
ware street; the other, by a very steep and 
circuitous track, which, wandering upward 
from near the corner of Front and Vermont 
streets, finally reached the level of the public 
square at Hampshire street, between Third and 
Fourth. On the hill the main settlements lay. 
Around the square on the north, west and 
south, were scattered cabins, about half a dozen 
on each side. Near the corner of Maine was 
the courthouse. South and southwest of the 
public square and east along Hampshire street, 
or "Pucker Street" as it was nicknamed, for 
two or three hundred yards were similar struc- 
tures, with here and there a cabin located 
farther east. The square was cut diagonally 
from northeast to southwest by a wagon road, 
running across it. such as no ravine, but the 
wagon road made. It boasted a luxuriant 
growth of hazel brush, intersected by footpaths, 
and also supported three or four small trees 
and one large white oak. 

And this was Quiucy. There were then the 
store and three hotels, one under the hill, one 
at the southwest and the other at the north- 
east corners of the square. Thej' made no pre- 



tense to aristocratic elegance or sumptuous 
gastronomy, yet the "big bugs" frequented 
them in jDrofusion and force. All ot thsse build- 
ings were of logs, mostly round or unhewn. 
Brick, i^laster, laths and weather boarding were 
factors yet to come, as they did in the follow- 
ing year. 

Continuing the reminiscences of Mr. Holmes 
— as giving a good insight to the appearance of 
those pristine daj's and as aft'ording personal 
information in regard to Quincy, it appears that 
his, the second store of the place, was first 
established in a small shanty on Hampshire 
street, west of and near Fifth, adjacent to what 
was then the "Log Cabin," afterwards the 
"Land Office Hotel," owned and kept by Bar- 
zillai Clark. 

IJequiring larger and safer accommodations 
for his business than his leaky cabin afforded, 
Mr. Ilobues soon after bought of Col. Wheelock 
196 feet, fronting, both on ]Maine and Foiirth 
streets, being lots 6 and 7, of block 13, diagonal- 
ly across from the Quincy House, long after- 
Avards known as the post office corner. 

For this he paid $175, one half cash, the re- 
mainder in goods or "store truck," as it was 
called. He was the recipient of a good deal of 
quizzing for having paid such a price for lots 
that had been sold two or three years earlier 
for aboTit $30, biit he consoled himself and sat- 
isfied his partner Tillson, who arrived in the 
following spring, by the comfortable fact that 
the $175 of "store pay" was a very pliable 
sum, taking into account the margins between 
ea.stern purchases and western prices. 

Prices of goods ruled very strangely, and 
were as unfixed on many articles as are mining 
stock quotations to-day. The arrival of two or 
more boats at the same time; the receipt of a 
stock of eastern or southern goods after a long 
delay, or earlier than was expected, gave them 
a very elastic value, in one direction or the 
other. It is true that a few of the more needed 
and more easily obtained staples were held 
at nearly the same relative cost at all times, 
but the profit on these was high. Eastern goods 
especially sold dear. The cost, risk and time 
involved in their transportation by sea to New 
Orleans, thence the slow travel up the Miss- 
is.sippi. and re-shipment of St. Louis, and their 
weighty or bulky and damageable nature 
caused the selling figure when they arrived to 
be well set up. 

Prints ranged from 30 to iO cents; hardware 
was quite costly: axes, for instance, brought 
from $2.25 to $2.50, and all other agricultural 
and mechanical implements were priced in like 
proportion. Boots and shoes were rated high. 
Good crockerv was scarce and sold at a high 



I'ASr AND 



KSKXT OF ADA.MS CorXTY. 



33 



iiKlirc. ( )r(liii;iry mikI phiiii ware was far 
(Ilea pel-, I'or the reasun tliat the tiuaiitity oi' 
hciiisehokl utensils was very limited, and the 
iieeils ill this ilireetion were made up by the 
use of gourds and domestic "eartheu ware." 
i'loui-, which brought from $8 to $10 per barrel, 
as also bar-on and all salted provision, was al- 
most entirely imported at this time, and after- 
ward, until about the year 1832. Sugar, coffee, 
rice and southern products generally ruled 
IdWcr. 

Clotiiiiig was mostly home made. Jeans, 
blue as the best looking, yellow or butternut, 
the most common, was the almost universal 
male garb. Sometimes Buckskin was used, 
\\hich. when carefully dressed, dyed and fitted, 
made a handsome, indeed often an elegant suit, 
with wonderful durability of wear. Women 
generally wore homespun, the linsey-woolsey, 
with the priiileil muslin, or calico, to be donned 
on Sunday, and on the head the huge horn 
comb, (-overe<l by the universal sun bonnet, 
\voi'n at all times, indoors and out. Shoes were 
a dress article, used by all who could afford 
them, and carefully hoarded up by all for win- 
ter needs. 

It was not uiK-ommon for women walking to 
meeting or to a gathering of any kind, to take 
their shoes in hand and put them on just before 
they reached the place of a.ssemblage, taking 
them off again while on their return. The least 
used article of what we deem necessary apparel, 
was the stocking. This garment, the most 
modern invention of all our useful clothing, 
utterly unknown in ancient times, was almost 
equally unknown in the early times of our 
AY est. Stockings were of wool, home knit, gen- 
erally, white or gray, except when taste or 
coipietry would give them a walnut, grape, or 
some other modest dark vegetable dye. Flashy 
colors were unknown. The exhibition of a pair 
of the flamingo-hued longitudinals worn at the 
]>resent day would have made a decided sensa- 
tion. 

Fashion is Protean — limitlessly so — and is 
mostly itself when extreme. It is erpially wor- 
shiped and intolerant in the ^lodoc wigwam and 
the Paris salon. The London snob or the French 
dandy, and their ludicrous imitators here, are 
not more obects of reverential admiration and 
imitation than was the aspiring savage, Avho, 
to do honor to his white brothers, presented 
liimself at an Indian coiUK-il i-lothed only with 
an old military ehai>eau and i)luiue — e.\hibiting. 
as Washington Irving humorously tells us, the 
general officer on top and big Indian at bottom. 
The passion for finery prevails among all 
(-lasses without regard to "age, race, color or 
previous condition." and it ofl(>ii has eminciitlv 



aiiiusiiig features. The "height of the style," 
as now seen, will Mcll pass for a patent scare- 
crow forty or fifty years hence, just as a street 
or party exhibition of the full-dress gai'b of a 
generation pa.st, would cause the fair fashion- 
ables of to-day, with an "oh! mercy!" shock 
and shudder, to pull back and train out yet 
further in very defense. 

A brief description of a handsome, conscious 
rustic Adams county belle, as she appeared 
w lien dashing np to the meetin'-house door on 
horseback, some fifty odd years ago, is thus 
told by a lady observer. She had been a l)elle 
also in the rural region from which she came 
to the West, and brought with her some rem- 
nants of her formei- finery, styles, even then 
[lassed out of fashion. Dark grey woolen stock- 
ings, cow'hide brogans, w-ith leather shoe- 
.strings, a very short, sky-blue silk skirt, some- 
what faded : a black silk waist or sleeveless 
jacket, also much worn and furnishing its own 
fringe in the fray of its edges: enormous white 
puffed leg-of-mutton sleeves: a scjuare muslin 
cape, with a broad, unstarched rufHe, a huge 
white leghorn, sugar scoop bonnet, Avith a long 
black feather and parti-colored ribbons promis- 
cuously bestowed thereon. Would not such an 
apparition now-a-days induce our neatly 
dressed church-goers to say "oh, ]Moses?" 

l](|ually ])rimitive with the dress and per- 
sonale of our "old settlers" was the contracted 
and mo.st home made furnishings of their 
homes. As the succeeding year marked the 
commencement of more pretentious construc- 
tions, with their natural accompaniments of 
increased comfort and style, it is worth the 
while to look briefly into these old-time house- 
holds which depicted modes of life and usage, 
the same throughout the entire community, 
such as just then were about to begin passing 
away, and such as this section will never be- 
hold again. The honses, as has been stated, 
were all bviilt of logs, generally the round log 
with the bark left on, the interstices "chinked" 
with strips of wood driven between the logs 
and then mortared Avith clay, making thus a 
thick, warm wall, impervious to wind or dam]i. 
The door was fastened by a large, wooden 
latch on the inside: the latch raised by a string 
which passed to the outside through a hole in 
the door, the string being pulled in at night: 
it turned on wooden hinges, which were of two 
kinds — either a huge imitation of the great gate 
hinges of to-day, or more commonly a straight 
upright stick, the height of the door, fastened 
to it.^ back end, having dull pointed ends above 
and below to revolve in a hole in the floor and 
one in the frame above. 

Tiie lloor was carpetless. and why? First, 



34 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS (.'OUXTV. 



because there were uo carpets to be had. and 
next for the reason that carpets wouki have 
had a short existence on the puncheon floor. 
These puncheons were made by splitting- 
through the center, logs of from eight to ten 
feet in length and from twenty to thirty inches 
in diameter, and laying them along side each 
other, the tiat side up and the lower or round 
side partially imbedded in the ground. Such 
floors were often convenient to the housewife 
when sweeping, since part of the dirt would 
drop through the interstices, and so much less 
remained to be swept out of the door. Bed- 
steads were easily made in the corners of the 
room: the walls constituting the head and one 
.side, the other side and the foot being supported 
by a single leg or post. Wooden pegs were 
driven into the walls, on which hung cloth- 
ing. Near the fireplace, a half dozen rough 
shelves for holding dishes, these usually covered 
by a cloth in place of a door. A broad, long 
board was above the great fire-place, on which 
would be placed all sorts of things, rarely 
omitting the bottle of bitters (roots or "yarbs" 
in whiskey), the universal panacea to keep oft' 
the periodical "shake." It is very surprising 
to know how broadly prevalent in those days 
was the "fever-an-ager."' Indeed, not to be 
subject to it, was the sanitary exception rather 
than the rule. 

Additional to the furnishings above named 
was the table, home-manufactured,, heavy and 
strong, about three feet square (more often 
less) for the two-fold reason that there was but 
little spare space for it and that there were 
not enough dishes to go around on a larger one ; 
also three or four stools, a bench and some- 
times a couple of split-bottomed chairs: the 
water bucket, or in its place the piggin. these 
were the sum total of the cabinet ware of the 
house. Cloths suspended from the rafters by 
strings, sometimes surrounded the beds, mak- 
ing them more private : but this was not usual. 

For the needs of cooking and eating, no great 
variety was required. It will be remembered 
that ail cooking was then done either in the fire- 
place or over coals on the hearth. Cook stoves 
had not yet come into use : even the inven- 
tions so prized, which immediately preceded the 
introduction of the stove, these were the tin 
■ oaster and tin baker — had not made their ap- 
pearance. The spider, a utensil now i-om- 
paratively little used, was then of universal use 
for baking purposes. It was a large, flat iron 
skillet with four short legs, an iron cover, con- 
cave on the top. This, when filled with dough 
Avas placed on a .bed of coals, the top profusely 
filled with the same, and most excellent was 
the bake. Boiling was done in a large iron 



kettle, suspended over the fire by a hook which 
hung in the huge chimney. Occasionally, an 
iron crane, turning (ui a hinge and attached 
to one side of the chimney, took place of the 
hook, but these were not common. 

These two articles were the necessities and 
answered most of the needs of all. A small 
amoiuit of crockery Avas sometimes seen, but 
limited in quantity. Tinware was common and 
applied generally to all sorts of uses. The 
great chimney and its broad, cheerful fire-place, 
whether open and clean-swept in summer, or 
liright with the blaze of its huge crackling logs 
in winter, was an essential feature of the house ; 
giving ventilation at one season and warmth 
and light during the other. Occupying with the 
fire-place usually half of one end of the house, 
it was built up outside of and against it. It 
was mostly made of sticks, completely covered 
and imbedded in clay. This would after awhile 
sometimes burn out. but Avith attention it was 
very duralile. Now and then the loAver part of 
the chinuiey and the inside hearth Avere made 
of flat stones mortared Avith clay. 

These houses, though snuiU, usually about six- 
teen feet, rarely over tAveuty, scjuare and seem- 
ingly cramped, had a singular capacity for 
accommodating many, and if constructed with 
ordiiuiry care, Avere A'ery comfortable and 
healthy at all seasons. 

'I'he brief descriptions above apply to the 
more crude and earlier structures, and more 
especialh' to those in the country, yet it Avas 
such as these that Avere still by far the most 
common. There Avere a few more spacious 
and pretentious habitations built according to 
the means and tastes of their OAvners Avith 
greater care and regard to appearance. The 
frames of such Avere of square hcAvn logs, the 
fovir corners of the house sawed otf e\'enly. 
the heighth sometimes sufficient to haA'e a sort 
of half story attic above. Avith a clapboard floor- 
ing. The ascent to this attic Avas by a ladder 
from the corner of the room beloAV. In these 
better built cabins occasionally Avould be seen 
a floor of split boards, and perhaps a breadth 
or tAvo of rag carpeting, and a small cupboard, 
bureau, or rocking chair brought from the 
former home, or other articles of similar kind. 
The families Avho first settled here encumbered 
themselves on their long journey Avith as little 
Aveighty or bulky furniture as possible, and the 
younger families made up in the West could 
as yet find neither the articles nor the AA'here- 
Avith to buy. 

The best of the houses Avere the double 
cabins, joined by a common roof. Avith the inter- 
vening space Tisually about fifteen or tAventy 
feet in Avidth. left unenclosed at one end. Avitli 



]>AS'|- AND PRESENT OK ADA.MS COUNTY. 



35 



doors (iiiciiiiiy on opposite sides into eithei" 
house. As more room eame to be required an 
additional cabin would I)e attached wlierever it 
appeared most handy, witliout any anxiety 
about architectural rules so that in the course 
of time, the group of buildings presented as 
irregular and as rough an appeai-anee as a 
cluster of oysters. Thus looked Quincy from 
outside and withiii over a half century ago. 
The survivors of those times to whom it is a 
personal remembrance are but two, i\Irs. Levi 
Wells, whose husband was one of the first three 
county commissioners elected iu 1825, and who 
came to the county in 1824, and a few years 
later moved into the village, and Mr. Robert 
Tillson. who arrived here early in 1829, are 
the only living residents now here who were 
of matured years and can recall the appearance 
of the place prior to 1830. 

The oldest living person now residing here, 
who was born in Qniney, and was born before 
IS'M). is ill-. Daniel (_'. Wood, eldest son of the 
late. (jOV. Wood. 

The descriptions above given may seem need- 
less on account of their being not unfamiliar 
appearances to many at the present day, but 
they form an essential part of these current 
sketches and must somewhere have a place 
therein. 



CHAPTER XI. 



1829. 

SLOW PROGRESS. FIRST MECHANICS. FREEING 
SLAVES. THE ROWDY. 

There was little to attract settlement in the 
a.spect of a ragged looking hamlet containing 
less than two hundred people, and composed of 
about a dozen log cabins strung along the river 
shore, uninviting in appearance, with the ex- 
ception of the Keyes' cabin at the foot of Ver- 
mont. This was im|u-oved in the fall of this 
year by a little frame addition, a ten or twelve 
foot square room, being tlie second frame struc- 
ture in the place. Wood's cabin at the foot of 
Delaware, the first one built, now, however, 
had I'cceived some log extensions. There were 
also on llu> hill, scattered irregular around, 
and near the public square, about a score of 
similar ca])ins. 

As yet no frame or brick house had been 
built, and lath and plaster were yet to come. 
The place was little more than a steamboat 
landiiiir for the lioats that passed occasionally. 



on their tri[is lo and J'rom Galena and St. Louis. 
Often these i)assed by without having occasion 
to stop, having neither passengers nor freight 
to deliver, and not being signalled to receive 
either. It was these occasional appearances of 
steamers, of which three or four plied between 
the two points named, making a ti-ip once in 
liiree weeks, which, whether they huided or not, 
gave a temporary life and stir to the village 
and caused the only break in its every day 
monotony. 

There were two stores, those of Anderson and 
of Tillson & Holmes, which sold everything 
that was needed, and took as pay anything in 
trade, and there were some half a dozen 
groceries which dealt in one single staple ar- 
ticle, and did therein a more inspiring, if not 
a more lucrative business than did the general 
stores, and were far more popular. 

This year came the second physician, S. W. 
Rogers, and the tirst lawyer. Archibald Wil- 
liams. There were several mechanical occupa- 
tions represented, each singly, thus having the 
entire monopoly of the town trade in their own 
line. There was the saddler, L. B. Allen, with 
his shop on the south side of Maine, nearly on 
the highest point of the bluff; east of him. on 
the same side of the street were Michael blast's 
tailor and Justus Ensign's hatter shops, and 
nearly opposite, the store of Aslier Anderson. 
On Front, near York, was the tannery of Ira 
Pierce and Jeptha Lambkin's pottery. Col. 
Freeman, blacksmith, was noi-thwest of the 
square, and Asa Tyrer and Samuel Seward had 
a blacksmith and wagon shop southeast of the 
town. Droulai'd's shoemaker's shop was at his 
cabin near Avhere the gas works now are. The.se 
cover most of the mechanical occupations which 
were here at the commencement, though othei's 
came during the year. Strange it may seem, 
and yet not so, because there was nothing yet 
for them to do, there was neither a cai'penter 
nor a mason in the place. 

The circuit clerk at this time was H. II. Snow, 
who held this and nearly every other clerical 
local office in the county — probate .judge, coun- 
ty clerk, surveyor, etc. — for nearly ten years, 
from the date of its organization. Another long 
lived official at this period, was Earl Pierce, 
who held the office of sheriff by successive elec- 
tion, six terms,from 1826 to 1836; the last term, 
however, being broken by his sudden departure 
for Texas in 1837 — faithfully, it is said, ad- 
liei-inLi' to the charge and possession of a goodly 
amount of the county funds, which he probably 
thought it unsafe to leave behind him. Offices 
did not change hands so frequently in those 
days as since, pi-obably for the two reasons that 
they jiaid Init little, and there were but com- 



36 



I'AST AND PRESENT OF ADAilS COUNTY. 



paratively few who were qualified by educatiou 
to till them. The county commissiouei's. who 
were until 1834 (when Quiney Avas incor- 
porated as a town) its sole authorities, were 
George Prazier, Samuel Stone and James 
White. Descendants of all these are now resi- 
dents in the county or city. Philip W. Martin, 
long- a prominent citizen of the county and a 
captain in the Black Hawk war, was elected 
County Commissioner in the place of James 
White in September, and at the same time 
Charles Holmes, who died in St. Louis in June 
'89, from whose recollections mvich of these 
sketches is derived, was chosen cou.nty treas- 
urer. An auction of a portion of the unsold 
town lots which had not lieen offered at pre- 
vious sales, and of such as had been sold and 
the purchaser failed to pay for, was had on 
March -ith. with but small success, and no seem- 
ing advance on former prices. The village 
settlement was still very .slow, although county 
immigration was pouring in fast, esj^ecially to- 
wards the ea.stern section in the Clayton and 
Camp Point neighborhood. 

Among the well known old time settlers of 
the city and county who were here before, and 
who came in this year were Nathaniel Sum- 
mers, Robert Tillson, W. P. Harrison, George 
Chapman. Archibald Williams, Dr. S. W. 
Rogers of Quiney, S. S. ]\leachan, Thaddeus 
Pond and Samuel Ferguson of Burton. Reuben 
Doty, Peter Felt,Obediah Waddell, Jacol) Wag- 
ner of Melrose. J. H. Anderson, Thos. Crank, 
Wm. il. Kirkpatrick, W. H. Wade, Peter Orr, 
Wm. Pryor of Lima, James Thomas. John 
Thomas, John Lierle of Columbus, John P. Rob- 
bins, and Lewis, Duncan, Sterne of Ellington : 
Wigle, Yeargain, White and Walby of Gilmer. 

A jail was contracted for to be erected at a 
cost of $200. Ferry rates were established five 
same as the year before, and the exclusive feny 
license was given to Hugh White for the nomi- 
nal Sinn of $2 a year. Among the public notices 
of the time was what would appear singular 
at this later day, the manumission of some 
slaves by John W. Stern and James Anderson. 
These had been brought from Kentucky by 
their ma.sters, and under the existing laws of 
the state, it was requisite that if freed the 
master must give bonds for their conduct and 
that they should not become dependent on the 
public for support, and must make official an- 
nouncement of this, which was done by hand- 
bills and posters, there being no paper here then 
published. 

The social and business aspect of tlie place 
had now but little changed from what it pre- 
sented in 182.5 — changed it may be said in no 
real respect except that there was more of it. 



Qi^iucy was as yet but little more than the trad- 
ing point for this section, business made up 
from its two stores and two or three groggeries 
and the visit of an occasional trading boat, such 
as formerlj' had been common on the upper ilis- 
sissippi and Illinois rivers, but now had disap- 
peared. The stocks in these stores were neither 
large nor various. Merchandizing consisted 
mainly in the retailing at round profits of a 
few dry goods and gi'oceries with farmer's 
tools, powder and lead. These were generally 
paid for in money, of which there was but lit- 
tle in the country — most of it being brought in 
by the innnigrants, and soon passed into the 
possession of the merchants and by them soon 
taken away in i)ayment for their goods, thus 
keeping but little money in general circulation. 
Few articles of farm production were taken in 
exchange for goods, these exchanges consisted 
almost solely of peltries, tallow and beeswax. 
The latter was especially a choice substitute for 
cash. 

Barter of farui jiroducts. which some years 
later became the main feature of mercantile 
business in the west, had not as yet come into 
vogue for the reason that there was. but little 
comparatively raised beyond the home wants 
of the farmer, and also that the outside mar- 
kets were few and distant, and would not war- 
rant the merchant in the risks and delay at- 
tending the return of his investment in such 
lines. But a small portion of the sales were on 
credit, but these, however, with the 100 per 
cent profit on eastern bought articles and 25 
per cent on groceries, and a 12 per cent inter- 
est allowable and customary on notes and ac- 
counts at the time gave a handsome margin of 
certain profit for traders who waited for their 
pay. The financial situation of the country was 
as bad as could be. The times were hard. The 
state was going through one of its many experi- 
ences of State Bank money. The issues of the 
State Bank, chartered in 1820. passed at 25 
cents on the dollar. Yet with all this, the peo- 
ple got along in comfort and cheer, as the wants 
and wishes were simple and few. If the busi- 
ness bearings appeared hard, the social show- 
ings were very much harder. The place was 
thoroughly frontierish on its surface. 

Society was not highly refined, but not tame. 
Court met twice a year, there was the annual 
August election, the occasional preachings, per- 
iodically, brought in a large representation of 
the country people, others were drawn in by 
business postponed for these occasions, by legal 
demands, curiosity and all soi'ts of personal in- 
ducements, proper and not so proper. These 
were the stirring seasons of the year. rare, brief 
but full of action. Trades were made, property 



PA8T ANJ) I'KESKNT dl" ADAMS COINTV 



37 



cliiuijj-cd liaiids liy sw(ip. Kquiiic excel Iciu'c on 
the hoof mill luuuaii .suiieriofity in tiie run. 
jump, wrestle or tist was settled with ns iinich 
interest antl attraction (though on a minor 
scale) as the race at present foi- the Derby. A 
I'edeeinin'r feature of these old-time petty con- 
tests was that Ihey Avere honest and unfero- 
cious. Kacli locality was sn])i)osed to have its 
best man oi' rather its best lighters, each of them 
ambitious to extend their fame and whip the 
ueighborini;- boss or bully, and the public days 
were the occasion for settling all this. 

lietween these times the village enlivement 
depended mainly on itself, and njion the quaint 
chai-acters who strayed in from the country, or 
were always loafing about the stores and grog- 
geries. There were enough of these oddities — 
the old-time "half horse, half aligator" stock, 
which was so numerous sixty years since all 
along the ]\lississi]ipi and which is to a partial 
degree exemiilitied now in the southwestern 
"cowboy." 

They, especially those from tlie country, were 
a class of, not exactly rowdies, but, either peri- 
odical or constant carousers, who. without often 
making much of mischief in serious disturb- 
ances, always succeeded whenever they chose in 
giving a carminal tint to the town of the most 
original and ruddy hue. A development of a 
few nights later of the peculiarities of the place 
is told by Mr. Holmes. 

A week or two after his arrival, he was 
roused after midnight fi'om sleep by a racket 
in the street, and looking out saw some of the 
"true breed of dogs" as they were headed by 
two men. one of whom he had a few days be- 
fore become acquainted with, as one of the 
leading comity officials, parading about the 
square with a candle box and in it several 
pieces of lighted candles, shouting: "Rouse ye 
neighbors, liehold us, we are the lights of the 
world." There were those from the south part 
of the county, who invariably wiien they came 
to town, left it in more if not better spirits than 
when they came in. They were good fellows. 
queer fellows, such as are not seen nowadays, 
each with his eccentricities. There was one, 
John Thomas, a very woi'thy. kind-hearted man, 
who invariably when he became full enough to 
go home, made it his final point to invite every- 
body 1o "kcam eout and see me. I'll treat ye 
keindly if ye come and shoe ye the s\iy keartie." 

Another witty oddity, used to periodically 
]iaratle on his big horse Boleway, and announce 
his set speech, which was "I'm ilike Dodd — in 
a minute. I'm built from the ground up like a 
musk rat house, and I don't beg potatoes of a 
negro.'' These, and such as these were the 
tyi)es of a general and common character, and 



they and such ;is they, gave an early coarse and 
gross coloring to tlie social showing of the 
l)lace, but they were slowly passing away and 
their peculiarities with them. 



CllAPTEK Xii. 



1835. 

HOTKL ACCO.MilOUATIOXS. SKETCH OF THE 
TOWN. COURT HOUSE BURNED. LORDS BARN. 
POLITICAL ATTRACTIONS OP THE MILITARY 
TRACT. FIRST NEWSPAPER. VARIOUS 

CHURCHES ORGANIZED. MAIL FACILITIES. 
CURRENCY. UNSOUND MONEY AND INFLA- 
TION. Lawyers of quincy. physiciaxs. 

STE.\M MILL. D. G. WHITNEY. HOLMES FAM- 
ILY. JOHN W. M'FADON. JOHN TILDSON. 
BUILDING OF THE QUINCY HOUSE. SOCIAL 
LIFE. ALEXANDER. CONTESTS FOR COUNTY 
SEAT. ADAMSBURGH. LA FAYETTE. COATS- 
BURG. COST OF LIVING. RISE OP THE RAIL- 
ROAD M.\NIA. ROLL CALL OF NEW SETTLERS. 

Our sketch of (Quincy now passes over an in- 
terval of about five years. 

How did the little town look in 1834-5.' It 
cannot better be pictured than has been done 
by a tourist of those days, from whose journal 
we quote: "There it is, sir," said to us that 
model captain and thorough gentleman (tAvo 
unusually united characteristics in those days), 
('apt. James Whitney, of the elegant, commo- 
dious, swift-running passenger steamer Orion. 
"That's it; you'll get oft" in time for supper, 
but you'll do better if you don't. Stay and 
take supper on board. Steamboat fare was 
not then always attractive, usually quite the 
reverse, but the Orion was an exception, and 
our next day's gastronomic experience on the 
hill convinced us that the Quincy taverns and 
the steamboats, in the item of table luxuries ( ?) 
about paralyzed each other, — as a quaint old 
settler used to say abonl his store goods in 
com]iarison with those of his neighboi's. and 
we found thai we had done wisely in accept- 
ing the worthy captain's ]U'o|K)sitiou and se- 
euriug a square meal on the Orion. There lay 
before us. as our hoarse-breathing craft tore 
sturdily through the yellow 'sjjring ri.se' flood 
of tlie untamed '^leche se(>|)(\' gi'eat water (not 
father of waters, as ])o|)ular liinguage has trans- 
lated its name). IMeche is the Algonquin word 
for great, as, for instance, mechegan (Michi- 
gan), which means great fishtrap. the outline 
of the lake suggesting a weir or trap for fish. 
Also mechlemackin;il< or ^lackiuaw means 
great turtle, as the island of ^lackinaAV resem- 
liles a turtle in shape. Again, tlie Indian word 



38 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAilS COUNTY. 



seepe, from which comes the English or rather 
American Avord seep, signifies water or flow. 
Thus talcen together we find meeheseepe — 
great flow or great water. 

"But we are stopping our steamer all this 
time, while before us lies under the rays of the 
declining sun, the heavy grass-green bluff 
dotted here and there with cabin or tree. 

■'Sprinkled along the river bank, as if some- 
body had let them fall and thought it not worth 
the while to pick them up, were what were 
called improvements. A little steam mill at 
the foot of what is now Delaware street, was 
wheezing away, as if in constant expectation 
of medical aid or inniiediate collapse. Near by 
it lay a couple of somewhat clean looking cab- 
ins; south thereof was a tangled mass of un- 
broken tree and brush and vine vegetation; 
above, along the water's edge, stood some tum- 
bledown looking structures as far up as ]\Iaine 
street, some used, some used u]i, and some use- 
less. 

"Yet farther on, a rambling row of log, 
frame and loose stone building between Maine 
and Broadway, — and was Quincy. We land at 
the foot of Vermont street. 

"Plere, the rock crops out close to the water's 
edge. A few dead beat trees dolefully linger 
as hitching posts for the landing steamer. Right 
before us stare the sign 'Steamboat Hotel,' at 
the corner of Front and Vermont. Shall we 
stop there ? Again comes in our good captain 's 
advice. 'Better not; I see a friend on shore 
who will take you on the hill in his buggy. If 
you go to the Steamboat Hotel it'll be buggy 
all night with you, and not much better on the 
hill, only that you'll get clear of mosquitoes 
and may not be roused by a street row.' "We 
take our good captain's advice and again profit. 
Many a grateful and sad memory will often 
.stray towards the name of this noble gentle- 
man, who afterwards, drawn by the pride of 
high adventure, threw a rising fortune into the 
stirring strifes of the Pacific Coast, and earned 
there as popular a name as he wore Avhen with 
us. 

"No street was then graded to the top of the 
hill from the river, and we ascend by a wind- 
ing road, starting from about the present cor- 
ner of Front and Vermont. We cross Hamp- 
shire, between Second and Thii'd, and land 
at last on level gi'ound near the store of Asher 
Anderson, the first merchant, at the corner of 
Third and ]\Iaine. "Well." we say. 'Where is the 
town?' Leaving, very gladly, what we saw of 
it under the hill, we see first, on the south .side 
of Hampshire, between what is no-w Second 
and Third, a schoolhouse, then further east 
along Hampshire, crossing a huge ravine about 



where the City Hall now stands, we find noth- 
ing until at the corner of Fourth. At this time 
here stood a two-story frame house owned by 
Henry B. Berry, perhaps the most imposing 
edifice in town. Continuing from Fourth street 
east, first comes the log boarding house of 
'Widow Wheat,' where afterward the First Na- 
tional Bank stood; now (1901) occupied by 
the (Quincy National Bank. There the 'elite' of 
the town boarded. Then comes the red grocery 
of Tom King; next Wm. P. Reeder's frame one- 
story grocery, his frame house alongside, and 
still smaller than either, if possible, is his brick 
kitchen in the rear, and the first brick kitchen 
erected on the scpiare. and the second in the 
place ; next, we see the small frame storehouse 
owned by Dr. S. W. Rogers ; then John W. JMc- 
Fadon's one-story frame .storehouse, where is 
now ^Montgomery's drug store; farther east 
comes the long two-story frame 'Land Office 
Hotel.' with an unrivaled state reputation for 
the liveliness of its beds and the luxuriant 
soil deposits on its floors. There the big bugs 
stopped and .stayed. In the east end of the 
same was the law office of 0. H. Browning, then 
the rising, as, for fifty years, he was the lead- 
ing representative man of the Quincy bar. A 
little farther on, at the corner of Fifth, was 
Robert Tillson's one and a half story log dwell- 
ing house, some five feet below grade. 

"North of Hampshire, on Third, Foiu'th and 
Fifth streets, there were scattered dwellings, 
and all north of Broadway, was the 'Keyes 
farm,' extending from Twelfth to Front street, 
and from Broadway to Chestnut. The original 
cost to ]Mr. Keyes of that splendid property 
was about eleven dollars, with an addition in 
the way of a bonus for the privilege of secur- 
ing the tax title to this half section. He after- 
ward olitained. at a much increased figure, the 
patentee's title, thus protecting his claim to 
the whole. Two winding ravines tending north- 
westerly, wound through this section between 
Hampshire and Broadway, and occupied most 
of the area, leaving but here and there a place 
for a few cabins. The 'Burial Ground' (the 
south half of what is now Jefferson Park, 
where the courthouse stands) was a higher and 
more even piece of ground, unenclosed, with 
a few trees on it, and a rail pen or pile of 
brush here and there, indicating the existence 
of a grave. 

"The north half of this sipiare was a deep 
ravine. Between Fifth and Sixth, on the north 
side of Hamijshire. were two cabins (a portion 
of this ground being badly cut up by ravines. 
The two-,story brick house of Judge Young, on 
the ground where the Tremont House stands, 
came later. On the south side of Hampshire, 



I'AST AM) I'lv'KSK.N'l' (»F ADAMS CDUXTY. 



39 



being built by Loriiig- H.lJeynoids.llu' two-stoi'y 
frame, whicii iiiany may remember in later 
years as beiiii;- tiie tavern icept l)y Joel Kmery, 
wbose musical 'Never Drink a Di'op Again." 
was a (hiily tnwn iueiii<ly. Farther on, looking 
cast aloni; tiie south side of llami)shire. were 
scveial small st i-iictures, some log. some frame, 
some on the street, others back; amoni!: the 
latter the cooper shoj) of Wells i<: ^loruan. in 
the rear of the present Holers " buildint;'. which 
was, we believe, the tii-st imjiortaiit e()oi)erag'e 
establishment in the place. 

"Kast of Sixth street was the u'overnment 
laud (iftice. a one-story I'imiiic, llicu (iuth's 
cabin; next three or f(]Ui' more residences of 
like apjiearance. .Vcmss Seventh, on tbe 
Liriiuud where the old Hrownin-i' mansion is 
now. ami the Catholic schoolhouse stands, ex- 
tending: beyond Eighth, were several log resi- 
dences, one a double cabin, occupied by Jesse 
Sunnners, another, by Henry Kenii). Thence 
on to Twelfth, there was a succession of hazel 
I'ough, then forest, and the whole area cut by 
half a dozen ravines running south. Hamp- 
shire, or 'Pucker' street, as it was in town 
slang, called, was the only outlet from the pub- 
lic s()uare to the north and east. It ran along 
a ridge as far as Eighth, where the road turned 
northeast, cutting across vacant gi'onml until it 
I'eached the Alstyne prairie. 

"On the north side of Hamp.shire where the 
Episcopal Church stands, was a corn field, in 
which stood David Karnes' blacksmith shop: 
the only house on that side of the street was 
Droulard's second house, a double cabin, where 
the Hushnell residence now stands. l)r(ndard 
was the owner of this entire quarter section. 
but it was all whittled out of his hands, and 
he died, as he lived, a poor 'French schent el- 
man.' A cabin at the eoi-ner of Twelfth and 
]Maine was for a short time, we believe, occu- 
pied by ]\rike Dodd. a rare humorist and ec- 
centric man. whose descendants now reside in 
C<inc(ir(l township. He died in 1857, was one 
of the earliest settlers, and tradition is laden 
with his ((uaint sayings and acts. About where 
111'' Webster schoolhouse stands tbe gi'ound 
was (|uite heavily wooded. With the excei)ti(ui 
of the cabin above-named, there was nothing in 
the way of what was called 'improvement' in 
this section. Out on ^Maine street, east of the 
square, there were one or two cabins on the 
south side, between Fifth anil Sixth, ])ut be- 
yond that, nothing. The great i-avine that 
crossed the street at Sixth, ended in that di- 
rection. 

■'Looking south from Hampshire street, 
along the east side of the juiblic sipuire, after 
passing the Emery taxciii at the corner, were 



a couple of cabins, one of which had been tised 
as a schooli'oom. Also the two bri(d< buildings 
of Dunsmore and ("ai'lin. in jjrocess of erection. 
These were built on the ground origiiuilly re- 
.served for 'school jiurposes.' Next, about half 
way along the block, and back from the street, 
was the log jail of that day, the terror of great 
criminals and small boys. Its design was both 
ingenious and econonncal. It had no doors to 
the first st(U-y where rogues wei-e confined, ami 
the prisoners were taken ujistairs to the second 
story and let down through a hole in the tloor 
to the cell below. The tendency of all which 
was. uiuliiulitcilly, to the cultivation of better 
th(Uight and moi'e Christi;in disposition, since 
the prisoners could onl.v hope and look for sus- 
tenance and deliverance from above. 

"Yet farther south, near the corner of ^Nfaine, 
was the first courthouse ; the i)rimeval log tem- 
ple where, as the town wag used to say, '.ius- 
tice was dispensed with." It was built in 18'2G 
and bui-ned in the winter of the year which we 
are describing (1835). It was, like its suc- 
cessor, a foi'tunate structure. Rejoicing at its 
birth were repeated at its death. The follow- 
ing obituary from the Illinois Bounty Laud 
Register, the first and then the only paper pub- 
lished in Quincy, in its issue of December 11, 
1835. prototypes what was thought, felt and 
said when a like event occurred on the 9th of 
January, 1875, forty years later; 

' "FIRE — Our courthouse went the Avay of 
sublunary things amicLst this devouring ele- 
ment on AVednesday evening last. There were 
many present to witness the splendid spectacle 
exhibited by the columns of smoke and flame 
which shot up to a considerable di.stance as the 
conflagration increased, but if any regrets were 
expressed for the accident, they did not reach 
our ears.' 

"Back of the courthouse there was a grove 
of hazel and small trees. The square itself 
was a rough hazel patch. Near its southeast 
corner, in the street in front of the courthouse, 
was a big stumj), from which political speeches, 
legal sales, out-of-door sermons, etc.. were 
made. At the southwest corner of Fifth and 
]\Iaine, was the two-story fi-anie dwelling and 
store of Levi Wells; then came towards the 
west two or three snuill one-story clapboard 
struct nres, attached and belonging to the Wells 
Iniilding. 

"West of the Wells building, after an inter- 
val of vacant gi'ound that long thus I'enuiined, 
there stood, about the middle of the block, the 
little frame shoji of ;\Iontanden. the first jew- 
eler, afterwards occupied by W. 11. Gage, 
whose two-stoi'V residence was in the rear. 
Then came two or three snuiU one-story frame 



40 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



law offices, used for such purposes for many 
years by Ralston, Warren, Logan, Wheat, Gil- 
man and successively by many of the early 
hnvyers. Here also Avas the office of Drs. Nich- 
ols & Eels. One of the earlie.st of these, was a 
log cabin, clapboarded. which had been the of- 
fice of 'Squire Logan.' He came to Quincy a lit- 
tle later than Archibald Williams, and was a 
leading lawyer.during his brief life, in a variety 
of attainments, brilliant resource and promise. 
He was, as Mr. Williams said, 'the brightest 
young lawyer of his day in Illinois, next to Ben 
Mills, that I ever met.' Logan died of the all 
I)revading fever, which with the cholera in 1832 
and 1833, almost decimated the place. Next, 
still looking west, was Rufus Brown's home 
cabin, and last, at the corner where now stands 
the Newcomb Hotel, was the half log, half 
frame tavern of Brown, the brag hotel of the 
place. On the corner of Fourth and Maine was 
the unfinished two-storj' frame house of Peter 
Felt, purchased and occupied bj' Capt. Burns. 
and subsequently \ised by the Illinois State 
Bank. Across the way, going north, at the cor- 
ner of Fourth and ilaine, was the two-.story 
frame long known as 'the old postoffice builcl- 
ing,' the first frame structure of the town, built 
in 1829, containing also in its chimney the first 
bricks burned, the first of which that was laid, 
being yet preserved in the wall of the large 
four-story house that now occupies the spot. 
Here a ravine running northeast and southwest 
crossed the street. Beyond that, further north, 
was the little frame tailor shop of Michael 
Mast, the pioneer knight of the shears. Next 
D. G. Whitney's two-story frame store about 
the center of the block, and between that and 
Hampshire a frame and a log l)uilding, one used 
by Gruel as a grocery, the other by the Pear- 
sons as a store, 

"Thus appeared the imblic square, rifted by 
cross paths and roads and with still an occa- 
sional patch of hazel I'ough. There were, Avest- 
ward down Hampshire street, a few small 
buildings, and around the square, besides 
those named above, perhaps half a dozen tum- 
ble-doAvn structures, sprinkled here and there, 
too unsubstantial to be noticed or remembered. 

"South and southwest of the public square, 
lay the most thickly settled residence section of 
the place. Along Fifth street south for three 
or four blocks, on either side of the ridge, were 
several small hoiTses. On Jersey, near where 
the German Methodist church now stands, on 
the south side, between Fifth and Sixth, was 
the residence of Mrs. ^Marshall, the widow of an 
early settler, who died some years earlier, and 
the mother of ex-Gov. Wm. ^larshall. of I\Iin- 
nesota ; and fvirther along Jersev, westward. 



there were other cabins, with an occasional 
small frame. 

"On Maine, west of Fourth, on both sides, 
were houses as far as ilount Pisgah on Second 
street, among them Anderson's .store, on the 
corner of Third, Peabody's wool-carding fac- 
tory, midway between Third and Fourth. South 
of the square, on Fourth street, on the west 
side, was the church — 'God's barn.' as a long, 
low frame liuilding (which was the earliest, 
and at the time, the only structure devoted to 
religious purposes) was called. 

"Associated with the remembrance of that 
ugly, clapboarded shed (for it was but little 
better than a shed) are many eventful associ- 
ations that should be put on record. Familiar 
to tlie memory of the few siu-viving of the 
period, they should be preserved for their de- 
scendents. In that unpretentious 'manger' was 
fir.st born and organized the religious senti- 
ment of the village. There was sown the seed 
whence have grown and fiowered the various 
branches of protestant belief by which our city 
is now advantaged and adorned. Almost every 
church in Quincy, every shape of sectarian or- 
ganization is an outshoot of 'God's barn.' 

"It was fostered in its earlier days by the 
faithful fervor of the lamented Turner, and 
made influential by the learning of Nelson and 
the originality of Foote. It had another and 
a higher mission. It was freedom's fortress 
when here 'freedom's battle first began,' when 
the "Nelson riots' arose, when humanity's duty 
to shield an innocent and eminent fugitive from 
pro-slavery barbarism was disputed, when that 
highest of American privileges, the right of 
free thought and free expression of thought 
was denied and assailed with threatened vio- 
lence by men from abroad and men at home, 
among them, officials who should have been the 
guardians as they were the nominal representa- 
tives of good government and law. Then and 
there rallied from out the excited and divided 
community, true and fearless men (fearless be- 
cause of their being right) and there organized 
in defense of free speech and quelled the threat- 
ened lawlessness. This was a turning period 
in Quincy "s history. The old church was the 
place of rendezvous. It was prepared for de- 
fense, and beneath the platform of the rough 
jnilpit, were hidden the arms of every sort, in- 
cluding hickory clubs, ready for instant use if 
needed. Religion and freedom will alike keep 
green the grateful memory of 'God's barn.' 

"At the northwest coi'ner of Jersey and 
Fourth, where the Baptist cluu'ch now .stands, 
was Judge Snow's double weather-boarded 
cabin, where all the county offices were located, 
and sevei'al cabins la.v farther south and west. 



I'AST AND I'liKSKXT OF ADAMS COLXTV 



41 



About tilt' corner of Si'cond iiiui Kentucky, on 
the side of the liill. was a frame house oeeu- 
pieil liy A I'l-hilialil Williams, and on Fourth 
.street, neai- ^'urk. was the two-stoi'.v frame 
biiildinu- of I he iiev. Asa Turner. Ihe first 
setth'd (dert:\\iiian of the plaee." 

Sueli was tlie phu-e as recalled after the lapse 
of many yeai-s. thouuh crude, rude and ronsli 
is tlu^ ])ieture thai appears from beneath the 
gathered dnst dl' neai'l.\' half a cen1nr.\'. strange 
in its huiiililc cnntrast with the stir and s])ring- 
ing life and luxury of to-day: _\et thei-e is a 
fadeless charm in th(> memorial thoughts, and 
tiiore is hardl.v one of these now vanished laml- 
inarks that we have iianu'd. to which e\eii yet 
some rect>lleeti()n does not reach back with 
mingled sentiments of pleasure, in the progress 
whicli liad been made, and regret that the charm 
of siin|)le frontier life has passed forever away. 

The preceding picture, while it correctly por- 
trays and general aspect of Quincy early in 
1835, is necessarily defective in detail, for the 
reason that it is a transcript from the tablet of 
a long-after reeolleetion, and while precise as 
to what it does delineate, naturally has man.v 
omissions. Tt is observable also that this was a 
year of raj)id and numerous transitions, and 
that the exhibit of the spring became a thor- 
oughly altered appearance at the close of the 
year. These changes, or some of them, will 
be noted as we pass on. 

The i)olitical representation of the town and 
county was Init little varied. John 'SI. liobin- 
son and Wm. L. D. Ewing were the V. S. sena- 
tors (the latter a very gifted man elected to till 
the place of Elias Kent Kane, deceased). Col. 
Wm. L. May, of Springfield, was the repre- 
sentative in congress, his district embracing all 
of the state north of this line of latitude: Jo- 
seph Duncan was governor: Young was still 
on the bencii : Wm. A. Richardson was state's 
attorney, elected by the legislature. The legis- 
lative representation was unchanged. The 
eount.v officials were those of the year before, 
exccjit that at the August election, 11. II. Snow. 
who had iield the office of comity recorder since 
1S25. was defeated at the polls by C. W. Bil- 
lington. a .joll.\" good fellow, whose good nature 
and lameness ( he was a cripple) gave him a pop- 
ular success over the "old judge." This did 
not matter .trreatly. since Snow still held tlu' 
three other leading county offices. 

The town authorities were changed at the 
Jinie election. A. Williams. S. W. Rogers. J. T. 
Holmes, 0. II. Browning and 11. 1'.. Heriy were 
chosen trustees : J. T. Holmes was elected presi- 
dent and O. H. Browning clei'k of the board. 
R. R. Williams, treasurer, and Thos. C". King, 
collector. The town ordinances were revised 



ami pulilished. The omission of the year be- 
fore, to deline the boundaries in the first sec- 
tion, was corrected, aiul we give the same as 
they were made, they being the first town boun- 
daries, and so continued until enlarged after 
Quincy became a city. The section reads: 
"Connnencing at the teiniination of Delaware 
sti'eet. in John Wood's addition to Quinc.v, two 
rods west of low-water mark' in the ^lississippi 
I'iver. thence ruiuiini;' east one mile, thence 
north one mile, thence west one mile, thence 
south one mile to the i)lace of beginning. This 
embraces the area now boimded by the river. 
Pa.v.son avenue. Twelfth and Oak streets. 

i'ntil this time all of the corporation action 
had been against rowdyism, lawlessness, nuis- 
ances, etc., but on the 17th ol' August the com- 
mencement of internal improvement legisla- 
tion occurs. This was the ap])ointment of Rog- 
ers. Berry and Snow (who had been appointed 
clerk in the {)lace of Browning, resigned) to 
fix the grade of IIanii)shire street, and an ap- 
propriation of $V2'i was made for the improve- 
ment of Hampshire and an ecinal amount for 
improving Maine, also $2 was allowed E, ]\Ior- 
rill for removing a snag in the ^Mississippi river 
o])posite Quinc.A'. 

The winter of 18)54-.') had been one of unusual 
severity^-more in.jnrious than an.v Ijefore 
known. There was much hiss of cattle and kill- 
ing of fruit trees thiMngliout tliis section. Nav- 
igation, however, opeiu'd as early as the 23d of 
January and an early business and immigration 
connnenced. surpassing that of all preceding 
periods, and which, although ever since con- 
tinued, has never been so especially stirring 
and noticeable as it was then. Many influences 
contributed to these conditions. Quincy. from 
various causes, became a center to which and 
through which, flowed a large portion of that 
current of immigration both native and for- 
eign, which streamed "westward ho." in 
search of location and home. It was. so to 
speak, the entrepot for farming lands, the "El 
Dorado" of prcmiised settlement : the only jilace 
where could be secured by private purchase 
or by government entry, an ownership in the 
rich '.soil of the ]\Iilitary Tract, or. as it was 
more commonly called, the "bounty lands." 

Congress, shortly after the second war with 
England, reserved that jiortion of Illiiutis terri- 
tory lying between the Mississippi and Illinois 
livers and south of the southern line of what is 
now Rock Lsland county, as bounty to the .sol- 
diers in the war of 1812. one hiuidred and sixty 
acres, or a quarter section was to be patented 
to every .soldier of the war. This was then, 
as now. one of the choicest sections of the state. 
It measures one hundred and sixty-nine miles 



42 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



in length from north to south, ninety miles 
across in its broadest part, with an average 
width of somewhat less than sixty miles. It 
comprises two hundred and seven complete 
townships of six miles square, and sixty-one 
fractional townships, or such as are irregular 
in their boundaries from bordering on one or 
the other of the two rivers. The entire tract 
contained, as per survey, about 5,360,000 acres, 
of which 3,500,000 acres were reserved or set 
apart for the bestowment of the soldiers' boun- 
ties above mentioned, and no lands could be 
entered or bought from the government until 
the soldiers" bounties were paid — indeed, as it 
happened, not until long after that time. The 
survey of the tract was made in 1815 and 1816, 
and immediately after patents were issued to 
the soldiers. The lands thus patented were in- 
variably chosen from the evenly measured 
quarter sections of one hundred and sixty acres 
each, neither more nor less, and all fractional 
surveys, such as contained more or less than 
the above-fixed standard, as well as all the 
lands left after the bount.y payment had been 
completed, were retained by the government 
and sulisecjuently sold, many years later, at the 
price first of two dollars and after that, of one 
dollar and a (pmrter an acre. 

About half of the tract Avas tluis given in 
boiTnties, and the lands so given were almost 
wholly purchased from the soldiers by eastern 
capitalists, and at the first sale of lands for 
state taxes in 3823, nearly all of them were 
bought in by speculators. Thus the title to all 
these unoccupied lands, some 1.400,000 acres, 
was in the ownership of non-residents, and had 
been since 1823 in the charge of the agency of 
John Tillson, afterwai'd and at this time. Till- 
son. Moore & Co.. which was located at Quincy. 
Most of these lands were for sale and at very 
low rates, the prices ranging from fifty cents 
or less an acre, up to two. three or five dollars, 
according to title, location, etc., but sales at 
the last named figures were very rare. 

The unpatented land. Avhich was commonly 
called government or congress land, was very 
gradually placed on market. Indeed, it was 
not until five or six years after the establish- 
ment of Quincy as tlie county seat that all the 
public lands in Adams county were thrown 
open to purchasers. They were siibjeet to 
entry, however, at this time (1835), and the 
government land offices were here located. 
Hence all wlio desired to purchase land, either 
by private sale or government entry, nmst come 
to Quincy to complete their dealings, so it may 
be readily conceived what an influx of travel 
and business was thus drawn to the place. 
Population flowed in from every quarter, from 



the slave-worn south, from sterile New Eng- 
land, from the overcrowded old world, at- 
tracted by the low price of the lands and the 
not greatly exaggerated tales of their won- 
drous fertility. Here they stopped, bought 
their lands and left their money; some settling 
near, some going to more distant locations. 

Aiding these influences was also the great 
abundance of bank money, a condition that 
two years later was sadly reversed. The steps 
taken towards establishing a branch of the 
state l)ank. to wliich $120,000 (on paper) was 
subscribed liere. the prospective Northern 
Cross railroad (now the Wabash) also con- 
tributed to give life, vigor and apparent pros- 
perity. Travel greatly increased. Up to April 
17th, tw^nty-.six steamers had arrived ; later in 
the season and late in the fall, the arrivals were 
almost daily, two packets claiming to run semi- 
weekly from St. Louis to Keokuk. The first 
steam ferry was started by ]\Ierrill & Co.. about 
July 10th; wh(j advertised that they would 
cross every hour and oftener if desired, and 
claimed thej^ would ci-oss in five minutes' time. 
The health of the town was greatlj' improved, 
as compared with previous years. The cholera 
which had so severely scourged it two years 
earlier, made a slight visitation, two persons 
only (strangers) dying of that disease. 

A notable event was the establishment of the 
first newspaper. Avhich was issued as a weekly, 
(111 April 17th, by C. M. Woods. The editorial 
and chief ownership was in Judge R. M. 
Young. It was styled the Bounty Land Regis- 
ter. The following year it changed hands and 
added to itself the name of Argus, by which 
title it was known for some time and about five 
years alter became the Herald. It is probably, 
next to the Journal and Register of Springfield, 
the oldest j{nirnal in Illinois, Its appearance 
for the first two years contrasts strongly with 
the present day journals. It was printed on a 
sheet 16x20 inches, of coarse, dingy paper, and 
with the heaviest and blackest of ink. Its po- 
litical character was "Jackson" or "Repub- 
lican." the names Whig and Democrat of later 
years having not then been fully assumed. This 
jiaiier. which gives the earliest continued rec- 
ord of pulilic affairs in Quincy, was well man- 
aged, but it was largely made up of selections 
and news from abroad, containing compara- 
tively little of local information. People then 
wislied to learn about the outside Avorld, and 
personal gossips answered in the place of local 
editors. Among the items was one that would 
look strange now. It was the advertising by 
Judge Young for his runaway slave. George, 
and an offer of $50 for his apprehension. There 
were at that time quite a member of slaves in 



I'AST AND I'lJKSKXT OF ADAMS CorXTY. 



43 



llu' state, tlio owners of whom liiitl been >;iuiriin- 
teetl tlieii- proijcrty hy tlie treaty, eeding to the 
I'liiteil States, the Ijouisiaiia territory. 

Initial niovciiieiits wei-e made during this 
year for tlie formation nl' I he Baptist, iletho- 
dist. Episcopal and I'nilarian cliurches. .Mem- 
bers of these new societies had been eitlier 
members of or were altenthint on the First ("on- 
gregationai ('hnrch. The .Methodist Cliui'ch or- 
ganized in -lune and the Baptist Church in Au- 
gust, tile other two a year or so later. 

NViiat we now i-ail mail facilities were any- 
thing but facile tlnring this period. Twice a 
week the eastern mail was expected to be de- 
livered in (^nincy. and usvially it came, some- 
times it didn't. There were two stage lines, 
one through Cari'dUton and Riishville, arriving 
on Thui'sday. and one through Springfield and 
Jacksonville, coming in on Fi'iday of each 
week. There was also a weekly nuiil north- 
ward to Peoria and westward to Palmyra, and 
farther on each route. The eastern mails and 
passengers were, when the roads pennitted. 
l)rought in by the old-fashioned "Troy coach" 
stage, but during lU) small portion of the time 
the means of conveyance was the "mud 
Avagon," or, with equal apj)roi)riateness, called 
the "bonebreaker," which was a huge square 
box fastened with no springs, upon two wheels, 
into which said box mail and passengers were 
l)romiscuously piled, and the conjoint and con- 
stant prayer of the insensate mail and of the 
contused passengers was " gooil Lonl. deliver 
us." The earliest, most copious and most sought 
for news, was that gleaned from the St. Louis 
papers which were brought uji on the boats and 
jirivately circidated. 

{'oi-i-espoiulence by mail was an expensive 
luxury. Po.stage rates were, for a single letter 
or one piece of paper not exceeding 30 miles, 
6 cents; not exceeding 80 miles, 10 cents; 150 
miles. r2Vo cents : 400 miles, 18% cents, and on 
all over 400 miles, the single letter postage was 
25 cents, and if the letter was written on two, 
three or moiv pieces of paper the postage was 
(h)ubled or trebled, etc., accordingly. This post- 
age was not then, as now. paid in advance, but 
at the time of delivery, and had to be paid in 
silver. 

Tt will be noticed that these rates are graded 
on a diffci-ent iMirrency .system from that which 
now exists. Although the present decinuil sys- 
tem of currency was then the only legitimate 
national coinage, yet the great preponderance 
in circulation of English, Colonial, Spanish and 
^Mexican silver, compelled the law to be ac- 
commodated to the spec-ie grades that were 
current, and alike with this, trade and busi- 
ness of every kind were governed ; goods w'ere 



bought, nuirked and sold by this foreign stand- 
ard of money rates. 

Mail matter came leisurely. Letters from the 
seaboard cities and from Washington were gen- 
erally about two weeks in transit. There were 
four postoffices in the county outside of Quiney 
— Liberty, Hear Creek, in the north part of the 
county. Aslit(Jii in the south, and Walnut I'oint 
in the east. 

Postage being so high and re<juired to be paid 
in silver, it was not unusual for letters to lie in 
the postoffice for a long time before the needed 
"rhino" could be secured with which to ob- 
tain their deliverance. The same considei'ation 
affected also the selection of the postmaster. 
As the receipt of his own letters free and the 
franking privilege were the perquisites and 
part of the postmaster's salary, the office gen- 
erally fell int(( the hands of some responsible 
and respected leading luisiness man, to whom 
the saving of this excessive cost of correspond- 
ence was a large economic factor, thus giving 
the office a prima facie repute, to which in mod- 
ern days it is too much a stranger. As an il- 
lustration of the jirominent part that postage 
played in those days we kiuiw of a case (and 
there were others similari where for many 
years, the office was held by a party, who, hav- 
ing an extensive distant correspondence, gave 
all the emoluments to an assistant, who |ier- 
sonally attended to its business. The weekly 
and semi-weekly mail would bring and take 
away a basket "full of itersonal letters for the 
po.stmaster and contain about one-tenth as 
many for the general disli-ibution. the post- 
master realizing an ample rewaid in having 
an untaxed eorespondence. 

It Avas the .scarcity of small silver and its 
necessary use in trade, entering lands and pay- 
ing postage, that led to the use of "cut 
money." A Mexican or Spanish dollar woidd 
be cut into eight pieces, each of these little 
silver wedges representing twelve and a half 
cents, and their circulation was general. It 
was shrewdly understood, however, that if all 
the pieces of any one dollar ccudd come to- 
gether again there would be discovered nine- 
eighths — the coiner thus i)aying himself for the 
labor of manufacture. 

This "cut money" above described, quite 
current since territorial times, especially in 
the interior of the state, gradiudly disappeared. 
It gave way before the advance of the legal 
federal coin which profusely accompanied east- 
ern emigration. "U^here these silver pieces went 
to and what becanu^ of them is a ([uery as unan- 
swerable as "what becomes of the pins?" Some 
of the stuff undoubtedly yet exists, but most 
probably greatly changed from its original 



44 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



form. Ill the writer's family a portion of it is 
thus preserved. His father, had, as postmaster, 
for manj- years reeeived it in large amouiits 
and sub.stituted legitimate coin fherefor on 
settlement with tlie department. From the 
handfuls of silver wedges thus left in his pos- 
session he caused to be manufactured a "tea 
set" consisting of sugar bowl, cream cup, etc., 
which have since often socially, circulated with 
as much satisfaction as they formerly did in 
their particular cuneal form. This set is still 
preserved, special in its attractiveness alike 
from being a family heirloom, more than half a 
century old, and also from the oddity of its 
origin. Much more has undoubtedly been saved 
in a similar way. 

Following this adroit device for the crea- 
tion of a small coin circulation and at the same 
time speculating therein by obtaining nine- 
eights from each divided dollar, there came 
another specie speculation in small coins, some- 
Avhat more profitable and decidedly more legiti- 
mate. At this time almo.st the only small silver 
coins in use were the Mexican and Spanish 
Picayune (Sy^ cents) and bits (12iA cents), 
and by these all trade prices and values were 
scaled. 

The federal half dimes and dimes, of which 
there were but few, passed current from hand 
to hand, equal severally with the picayune and 
the bit, so that whoever in the eastern states 
exchanged dollars for dimes, receiving ten 
dimes for each dollar, and brought his bags 
of dimes to the west, made twenty-five per cent 
by the operation. With eight of these ten-cent 
pieces he could buy a dollar's worth of any- 
thing, and have two dimes remaining, equal in 
I)urchasing power to twenty-five cents. This, 
as may be imagined, was an exchange factor of 
no light weight. 

The moneyed condition of the country (if 
paper is money) superficially viewed, was won- 
drously Hush and favorable to the settlement 
and develoi)ment of the west, but was intrin- 
sically fictitious and rotten. The veto of the 
national bank, by which step the government 
assumed the vicious polic.y of refun'ding to pro- 
tect its people bj' guarding the legal promises 
to pay, which are the indispensable needs of all 
civilized communities, and of refusing to es- 
tablish a circulating medium uniform, staple, 
safe everywhere, since the resources and sta- 
bility of the people and of each one of the peo- 
ple who used it would be pledged to its valid- 
ity, this unwise movement opened the flood- 
gates of banking irresponsibility, and the land 
was made to teem with "shodd.v" and "wild- 
cat" bank notes. With this profusion of en- 
graved paper, miscalled money, came that delu- 



sion which appears to periodically affect each 
generation, making men, as says America's 
most eminent writer, to "mistake the multipli- 
cation of money for the multiplication of 
wealth, not understanding that it is a mere 
agent or instrument in the interchange of traf- 
fic, to represent the value of the variaus pro- 
ductions of industry, and that an increased cir- 
culation of coin or bank bills, in the shape of 
currenc.v, only adds a proportionately increased 
and fictitious value to such productions." 

This wild inflation affected the whole coun- 
try, especially pervading the Avest, so inviting 
at that time to speculative chances, and Qiiincy 
and its surroundings shared in the mania. Land 
had then as now, and as always, its fixed rela- 
tive productive value, but money was cheap, 
common, plenty, "thick as autumnal leaves, 
that strew the forests of Valambrosa," and 
ultimately about as valueless. It passed as 
freely from hand to hand as a candidate's 
"shake" on election day. 

As illustrative of this speculative whirl and 
of the great fall and deep depression in prices 
that inevitably succeeds these unnatural condi- 
tions, we cite the sale of what is now Nevins' 
addition. This tract, containing one hundred 
and twenty acres, comprised within TAvelfth, 
Jerse.v, Eighteenth and Broadway, was bought 
at this time b.v an eastern company for thirty 
thousand dollars. Five years later the pur- 
chasers sought to sell for five thousand but 
could not, and it was not until 1850, fifteen 
years after the above-named purchase, when it 
had been divided among the owners and was 
platted into sixty lots of about two acres each, 
that it could be put upon the market. The lots 
then sold at prices running from three to eight 
hundred dollars — a few bringing more, but the 
average was, aside from the fifteen years' 
taxes, money interest, etc., hardly to the origi- 
nal buyers a return of their purchase money. 
Yet these luinatural money conditions, with 
their certain future relapse, gave for the time, 
a brisk jn-osperity to the place, and, it must be 
admitted, developed conditions which resulted 
in permanent growth. 

Its business situation is fairly represented in 
the following statement, prepared at the time 
by one of Quincy's earliest settlers, and one 
himself peculiarly a part of its early history. 
Some imissions and inaccuracies occur, slightly 
characteristic of the compiler, but in the main 
it is a correct and comprehensive schedule, as 
no one then but Judge Snow could have made. 
It somewhat varies the appearance of the town 
as pictured in a previous paper, for the reason 
that this was made up at a later period in the 
vear. 



I'AS'I' AM) I'lv'KSKXT (JF ADA.MS COINTY. 



45 



'■'J'here ai'e in (^uincy," s.iys this report, 
"ton stores, oiu' hiiul iigeiiey, one silversmith. 
Ihrce cooper shops, six hnvyers, six physicians, 
three hiiieksniitlis. one priritiii'^' offiee. two link- 
ers, one eoaehniaker. I'our tailors, two waiion 
makers, three pjastei'ers. two drui;' shops. t)ne 
bonnet store, two masons, four u'roeeries. two 
wai'ehouses. twenty-one mei'ehants, five eai'pen- 
ter shops, two shoemakers, two butehers, one 
fi'unsiiiit h. one L;ii\i'i'nirieiil hi ml otifiee, one mil li- 
near and mantua maker, thi-ee taverns, one pork 
mereiiaiil, Idiii' saddler.s, two stonemasons, one 
wheelwriiilit, one ehairmaker. one steam mill, 
one woojeardinj;' machine, two res'ulai' steam 
[)ac]<ets to St. jjonis."' 

Some of these occupations existed prior to 
this ])eriod. some dated witli the year, wliile 
still others were established subsequent to the 
time when the foreji'oiui;' schedule was com- 
piled, and of course do not ajijiear. Here fol- 
lows as a jii'oper and |)leiisant touch to recollec- 
tion bi-ief mention of a few of these then repre- 
sentative business men. wlio now have almost 
entirely im.ssed from life and taken their names 
with them into partial foruetfulness. Such no- 
tice, at this dim distance of time, naturally can 
be but scant and without pretension to full ac- 
curacy or precision. 

The lawyers alluded to by .ludL;e Snow 
wei'e (). II. Browning, x\rchibal(l and Kobert K. 
Williams. J. H. Ralston. J. W. Whitney (Lord 
Coke) and Louis Masqneier. Several of them 
have been heretofore sketched. The first two 
carried conspicuous names, 0. II. Browning, 
who, as a young lawyer from Kentucky, settled 
here in 1831, almcst immediately acquired, and 
maintained for nearly fifty years, the recog- 
nized leadership at the Qniacy bar. Excelled 
as he may have been in some one line of ca- 
pacity or attainment by this or that pi-ofessional 
comjteer, yet in industry, experience, sagacity, 
knowledge of men, self-possession, grasj) alike 
of comprehensive principles and of detail ; in- 
deed in the general aggregate of excelling qual- 
ities needful to the synmietrical mold of a great 
legal mind, he had no equal here or superior in 
the northwest. He pos.sessed, to a )'are degree, 
one most especially valuable legal attribute : a 
natui'al lucidity of expression through whicli 
to transfer his own thoughts with e(|ual cleai-- 
lU'ss and force to evei'y membei' of a mixed and 
miscellaneous audience. c(uu|)osed as it ijiight 
be of all grades of intellect and intelligence. and 
to do this in such a way that each listenei- re- 
ceived what he heard as seeming to himself to 
be the self-flattering elaborations of his own 
brain. Tie retained these sjilendid mental traits 
unclouded, and his ])hysical f;ic\dties e(pially 
preserved, throughout his eminent half-century 



eai'eer. down almost to the day of his life's 
close in 1881. Archibald Williams, heretofore 
spoken of as the first lawyer to settle in Qnincy, 
coming here in 181i!J, filled for thirty-two years 
a foremost position at the bar and earned a rep- 
utati<iri imire extensive than the state. 

While not [lossessing some of the varied 
nu'ntal adornments jieculiar to ^Ir. Browning, 
and not so educationally advantaged in youth, 
yet in native muscularity of intellect he was 
at least his equal. His force of thought was 
singularly strong, and his comprehensive and 
concise analytical [lower would most striking- 
ly api)ear when, before a ccuirf. he would in 
the briefest of tei'ms unfold, ap])ly and enforce 
a legal pi'inciple. It was the mutual good for- 
tune of these eminent men to be for thirty 
years in almost constant professional collision, 
they .severally being the especial legal repre- 
sentatives of the opposite jiositions in the con- 
tested and unsettled tax laws of the state. 
What benefit it must have been to two such 
minds to be so opposed in a struggle over 
such great interests, involving the profonndest 
principles of human law. nuiy be well imagined. 

Louis Masquerier was a notable man in his 
day; a man of many varied (pialities: a ready 
speaker and writer, of nnudi infoiMuation. al- 
ways ambitions, but always failing from his 
caprices and lack of judgment. A wag de- 
scribed him as graduating from an institution 
"for the promotion of useless knowledge and 
the general confusion of the human under- 
standing." He was a clever fellow and gen- 
erally liked. Soon after this time he moved to 
Southern Illinois and there died. 

The physicians were Drs. Eels & Nichols 
(partners). S. W. Rogei-s. Ilornsby. Ralston & 
II. Rogers (partners). Some of these have been 
previously sketched, Dr, llii-am Rogeis was a 
phy,sieian of education and skill. He came to 
Quiucy in 18-13, from New York, and first en- 
gaged in the drug business with Dr. Ralston. 
He was register of the public land office from 
1845 to 1849, He died sevei'al years since, leav- 
iiiu' lilieral charitable be(|nests. His widow, the 
daughter of ("apt. Pease, yet resides here, 

Dr, Samuel W, Rogers, the elder brother. 
was the first physi<'ian who settled in the place 
(1829). Outside of his professional position, 
which was high, he was a man of miu-h force 
and leadership in i)ublic affairs. He was ]ir(uui- 
nent in town councils, ami eipially so in his 
party; was city jxi-stmaster during the admin- 
istration of President Polk. He died about 
four years since at his daught(M''s I'esidence in 
Xew TTami)shire, 

All of these men rard<ed high in i)ublic esti- 
mation. Indeed, both the iiu'dical and legal 



46 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAIMS COUNTY. 



profession then aggregated at home and 
abroad, a fairer standard of success and re- 
spect than is common in later years. While 
lacking the advances of science and experience, 
they Avere for that period, equal to the respon- 
sibilities which they ware called to meet, and 
if there were fewer men of eminence, there were 
fewer charlatans. This cannot as well be said 
of the clerical profession. With the exception 
of the faithful "Parson" Turner, there were 
few if any among the frequent floating preach- 
ers Avho w(nild instinctively be called a "di- 
vine." 

The two "drug shops" cited by Judge Snow 
were those of Rogers & Ralston and Wells & 
Morey, who kept a small stock of drugs, chem- 
icals, etc., although most <if the physicians sold 
medicines. 

The steam mill at the foot of Delaware street 
was operated by J. T. Holmes & Co. Capt. 
Nathaniel Pease, located on Front street near 
Vermont, was the only pork merchant. 

The one printing office was that of the 
Bounty Land Regi.ster, now the Quincy Herald, 
established this year by C. J\I. Woods. 

Three taverns graced, some say disgraced the 
town. They were Rufns Brown's, the first in 
the place, where now stands the Newcomb 
Hotel; the Land Ofiftce Hotel, kept by W. S. 
Walton, on the north side of the square, just 
west of Fifth street, and George W. Hight's 
Steamboat Hotel on Front street, about oppo- 
site the i^resent railroad depot, better then 
known as "Cattish Hotel." No si^ecial delinea- 
tion of these need be given. Their reputation 
was long preserved in the expressive vernacu- 
lar, current in those days, which we cannot ex- 
hume withoiit offending the tastes of our read- 
ei"s and also drawing too strongly against the 
third eonnnandment. 

The bonnet store and milliner and mantua- 
maker's shop was kept by Mrs. Dr. Nicholas 
and Mrs. Burns, on the west side of Fourth 
street, near Maine, after^A'ards immediately op- 
posite. Fortunately, forty-seven years ago 
"boiighten goods" were not so prevalent, nor 
Avas "style" thought to be so indispensable as 
now, home-made truck meeting the general 
want, so that these ladies had little difficulty 
in keeping up with the fashionable demands on 
their tastes and time. 

D. G. Whitney Avas then, as before and after, 
the leading merchant, Avho had associated Avith 
him. succe.s.sively, Richard (ireen, and his oavu 
brothers, Ben and William, ilr. Whitney Avas 
from Marietta, Ohio, and came westward early. 
He possessed unusual mercantile enterprise and 
skill, carrying on several ])ranches of business 
at the same time : an extensive store on the Avest 



side of the square, a distillery some tAvo miles 
beloAv the town, a grist mill in the south part of 
the county, and a Avarehouse near by on the 
river bank, also having interests in several 
country stores. All these made him the most 
extensive, as he Avas the most popular business 
man of the county. He built the mansion after- 
Avard oAvned by Gen. Singleton ("Boseobel") 
east of the city, which then Avas the most palatial 
residence in this pai't of the country. His fail- 
Tire in business, Avas to himself and to the gen- 
eral pulilic, the most hui'tful of any that ever 
occurred here. Mr. Whitney remoA'ed to Cali- 
fornia in 18-19. and there partially restored 
liis fortunes. He finally died about ten years 
(1886) since, crushed by a railroad ear colli- 
sion. 

The Pearson brothers, E. L. and Albert, Avere 
merchants from near Philadelphia. They 
owned and resided on fine farms, of 160 acres 
each, immediately east of TAventy-fourth street, 
at the southeast side of the city. Their store 
Avas on the Avest side of the public square, near 
the center of the block. After retiring from 
mercantile life, the elder, EdAvard L., removed 
to California, and there died. Albert engaged 
for a time in l)anking at WarsaAv, 111., afterAvard 
returned east and died in 1881, at his home in 
NeAv Jersey. They Avere men of mind, of more 
than ordinary originality and vigor of thought, 
influential and respected for their intelligence 
and hos|)itality, and possessed of some marked 
eccentricities. Alliert. the second brother, held 
it to be the sacred and bounden duty of every 
American citizen to denoiinee AndreAV Jackson, 
an obligation Avhieh he patriotically performed 
to the last day of his life. 

]\IattheAvs & Co., from Ohio, Avere like Whit- 
ney and the Pearsons, early .settlers. Their store 
Avas on ;\laine. corner of Third. Subsequently 
they ojjened a store at Carthage, and later at 
WarsaAv, to Avhich latter place they moved, and 
Anally left for the east. There Avere three 
brothers, of AA'hom only one (James) Ave believe 
is living at this date (1886). 

Rogers & Dutcher Avere a prominent mercan- 
tile and commission firm. Samuel C. Rogers, 
the senior member, Avas a very superior business 
man. He passed quite a portion of his time 
in NcAV Orleans. He Avas quite an ardent and 
litieral Catholic, and that church OAves much 
to him and to his gifted Avife. Thos. B. Dutcher, 
also a man of good business habits, after his 
failure in Quincy. engaged in the commission 
business at St. Louis, and latterly in Ncav Or- 
leans. Roth of these gentlemen have long been 
dead. 

Stephen and Samuel Holmes Avere brothers 
of J. T. Holmes, seA'eral times mentioned. The 



AST AM) I'liKSFAT OI' ADA.MS COrXTV. 



47 



lldliiics r;iniil\' was frdiii ('i)muM't icut, and pos- 
sessed ol' Yankee enterprise t(i the amijlest ex- 
tent. Stephen died a few years after this time. 
Sanniel, one of the most enterprisiii>i', rapid- 
minded men of the town, was prominent in 
many pnhlic matters. es|)eeia!ly devoted to po- 
litieal ad'airs. holding- various offiees in the 
town and city, mayor several times, register 
of the li'ovci-nment land otTiee. representative to 
the general assembly and s|)eaker of the Ih)use, 
etc. He died in 1868. The store of tiie Holmes', 
wlio kept the same und(>r several i-haiiiics of 
linn name, was at the southwest corner of 
Maine and Fifth. Latci' in the year (leo. W. 
ilrowii. a lirother-in-law, was associated in the 
liusincss, and tinaily assumetl it. 

•lohn Burns. Jr., a former sea captain, came 
from Massachusetts in 1834, to remain. He had 
visited Quiney the year previous. His store 
was at southwest corner of Maine and Fourth, 
('apt. Burns afterward moved to Payson, and 
retiring' from business, returned to Quiney, 
where he died at an advanced age. The family 
is extensively rei)resented here and in the Pa- 
cific states. Their homestead for many years 
\\as tlie '"Burns place," now owned by Lewis 
Kcn(hili. one mile north of the city, on Twelfth 
street. This was a large family of active 
and enterprising people. 

Joel Riee, who died several years ago, was 
a Kentuckian by birth, but came to Quiney in 
1835, from Cincinnati and began business on 
Front street, as a general dealer and shipping 
merchant, afterward engaging in grain and 
l^ork jiaeking. A lucky eveid a few years later 
closed his speculative ventures, which were 
really foreign to his cautious, prudent nature. 
The river froze quite unexpectedly and con- 
tinned closed for some time, holding in its 
gras]) a steamboat on which Mr. Kice had 
shii)ped the product of his entire winter's woi'k, 
indeed, idmost all that he was worth was in- 
vested in the enterprise. He had lo ship in 
tlic I'ace of declining prices and ol' a certain 
loss, to what extent, he could not know. He 
hail made his negotiations with the Illinois 
State Bank, and his paymeiils were to be made 
to tlie bank and in its papci'. The bank failed 
while the steamer lay locked in its icy fetters. 
The depreciation of its paper saved him from 
the apprehended loss. He i|nil speculation to 
any extent after this experience, as he said, 
he "didn't think a bank \vonld fail and the 
river freeze up at the same time again." .Mr. 
Rice subsecpiently engaged in the iron business, 
retiring several years ago. He died about 1878. 
Mr. Rice was an earnest j)ublic worker, espe- 
cially during the earlier i)eriod of the cit}'''s 
history. He was of somewhat quaint manner. 



methodical habits, and pi-ecise in expression. 
He left a reputation for straightforward in- 
tegrity such as few men obtain. 

John W. ^IcFadon, located on Hampshire, 
not far from Fourth, was one of the early mer- 
chants. He was a native of Baltimore, a man 
of broad information, derived from unusual op- 
portunities of foreign travel and business as a 
ship supercargo, which occupation carried him 
almost over the worhi. He was for some years 
engaged in business at Kio Janeiro. He brought 
west a snug siun of money, opened a store at 
Marcelline, and later at Quiney, he invested 
sagaciously in lauds and town lots, and hand- 
ling his business prudently and living frugally, 
left at his death, in 18()-1, one of the largest es- 
tates in the couidy, and a name of honor. Mr. 
McFadon was very averse to political notoriety, 
although possessing most positive political at- 
tachments and prejudices; his likes were witli 
the Whig party, especially on account of its 
commercial and financitd policy, and his dis- 
likes were for the Democratic and Abolition 
parties, although, like most of the Whigs, he 
was anti-slavery in pi'inciple. When asked once 
why he never got into public life, "By Jupi- 
ter," said he, his favorite expression, "I'm too 
much of a Whig and a gentleman to be anything 
but postmaster at Bear Creek, ■where they have 
to have some such man to read the directions 
on the letters." 

• John A. Pierce's store was on ilaine street, 
north side, near Fourth; later removed to 
Fourth, just south of D. G. Whitney & Co. He 
had been a sea captain and had all the blufif. 
frank and genialty and general intelligence that 
usually attaches to that pursuit, but totally 
unskilled as a merchant. He returned to New 
York the folloAving year, having disposed of his 
business to I. 0. Woodruff. 

S. R. ]\I. Leroy for a short time kept a store 
adjoining the Land Office Hotel; he died dur- 
ing the year, leaving an extensive family con- 
nection, now represented by the Sullivan. Rich- 
ardson, Dunlap and Lane families of Quiney 
and the Reeds and Belknaps of Keokuk, Iowa. 

Levi Wells. mentioned in a former chapter, one 
of the very earliest of the ))ioneer settlers, was 
at this time engaged in merchandizing in his 
own building, neai- the southwest cornel- of 
Fifth and JIaine. |>art of which he occupied as 
a residezice. To his general store lu' and a Mr. 
Morey, added what was. jierhaps (though 
small), the largest assoi-tmeni of druu-uist stock 
in the place. 

Tillson i: I'itkin. at the old postoftice. corner 
of Fourth and ]\Iaine, represented the oldest 
then existing mei'cantile house of the town, 
that of Tillson 6c TTolmes. fouiuled in 1828. Seth 



48 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



L. I'itkin, the junior pai'tuer, was a Counecti- 
eut mau, of excellent character and business 
qualifications. ))ut. like manj' siu-h men. seemed 
to labor under misfortune, ilr. Pitkin was a 
relative of U. S. Pentield, and ilr. Penfield and 
Thomas Pope also were clerks in this store at 
a somewhat later date. 

The firm of Berry & Parker, changed during 
the year to Berry & Skinner, transacted a live- 
ly bu.siiiess at the corner of Fourth and Hamp- 
shire. They were brotliers-in-law. They were 
not successfid in business and have long since 
passed away, not far distant in the dates of 
their death. 

Among the merchants who ai-e yet (1866) 
alive and residing here, are Samuel Jackson, 
from Charlestown. Jlass., who opened a store 
this .vear on Hampshire street, about opposite 
the Tremont House, and Samuel P. and Clark 
B. Church. New Englauders, but from Pitts- 
burg here, who located on Fourth street, on 
the west side, near Jersey. George Hunting- 
don, long since deceased, opened the first ex- 
clusively commission house. IMontandon & 
Kimball late in the year began business imme- 
diately east of where the Newcomb Hotel 
stands. This was Deacon Kimball and H. L. 
Montandon, the silversmith (of whom here- 
after). A tin store kept by A. ]Maddock, from 
Cincinnati, on Front, at the corner of Vermont, 
was perhaps the first store of this kind. 

The grocers, as such, were Thos. C. and Wm. 
King and "\Vm. P. Reeder. on Hampshire street, 
near Fourth, and Wm. Curtis & Co. on the same 
street, near Sixth. We say "as such" because 
these professed to be solely grocers, while the 
fact was, that nearly all of the stores kept more 
or less of an asscu'tment of groceries, hardware 
and eveiything besides that was saleable. 

The names above given comprehend almost 
the entire "class mercantile" of the place. 
There doubtless are some omis.sions, but not 
many. 

C. Brown, on ilaine street, west of the bonnet 
store, aiul ^lay and Robidoux, on Front, or 
Water street, as it was then called, between 
Maine and Hampshire, operated small bakeries. 
Conrad Broseal, the early baker does not ap- 
pear to have been in business at this time. 

Of the blacksmiths who had shops, Harrison 
Dills, who came in 1834, from Virginia, and 
located at the corner of Hampshire and Sixtli, 
and Jos. Galbraith, a Pennsylvaniau, and David 
Karnes were about all. The last two. with their 
families, are gone. Asa Tyrer, the pioneer 
blacksmith, of 1825. was not then (1835) work- 
ing. Mr. A. C. Lightf(^ot and a ]\Ir. Sykes, 
were the leading stone masons. The fir.st named 
was a man of considerable influence and energy 



iu public affairs. Wagonmakers, wheelwrights 
and eoachmakers maj^ be classed together. Of 
these A. C. Root and Carter & Walker ap- 
pear to be the only parties who had shops. 
Sam Seward, the first wagonnmker of 1826, 
had long since disappeared. Tliere were sev- 
eral carpenter .shops and plenty of carpen- 
ters, though many were but temporary resi- 
dents, drawn hither fr(im the neighborhood 
by the opening opportunities for work, and 
many of these were but rough workmen. 
Nathaniel Summers, from Kentuck.v, who set- 
tled in 1821), was the earliest of the boss car- 
penters. There were also T. C. King, from 
Virginia ; J. C. Sprague, a New Yorker, — 
Purnell, the Wintei's, Charles Green, Amos W. 
Harris and others. 

]\Ir. Harris nuiy he called the pioneer in the 
lumlter trade which forms so great a factor in 
our present prosperity, since in addition to his 
carpenter's shop he established the first lumber 
yard of any extent. The only gunsmith was 
Joseph ilusser, whose shop .stood about where 
the Occidental hotel now is. He died a few 
years since at La Grange, 'Slo. James 'Slc- 
Quoid. Walby and Albright were butchers. 
James H. Luce, who had for some years kept 
a chairmaker's shop, on Fourth near Jersey, 
Avas still so engaged. Sir. Luce, accidentally 
shot himself while hunting at Lima lake. Dur- 
ing this year there came Wm. Towuley from 
New York, who added to his cabinet making- 
business that of carriage and ornamental paint- 
ing. This was an advance on whitewash. 
Whitewash, to use a solecism, was the chief 
coloring material in general use. Paint as yet, 
was not in general use. Even "Miod's Barn" 
was luipainted. remaining so for many years, 
mitil it Ijecame somebod.v else's barn. 

George Wood, from New York, on the north 
side of the public scpiare. who later in the year 
associated with himself S. Halsey, and R. B. 
Wilmoth were cabinet nuikers also. Among the 
saddlers and harness makers. Levi B. Allen, 
before named as the first of the trade in 1825, 
was still in business on JIaine, west of Fourth. 
Tliere were also Lytle Griffin, who soon moved 
to Columbus, and Cornelius Conley. B. Pea- 
body carried on a wool-carding business on the 
north side of ^Maine, about midway between 
Third and Fourth; he died during the year. The 
only livery stalde. which, also, was the first to 
be established in the city, was that of John B. 
Young and Martin Ladner, on the north side of 
Hampshire, west of Third, .just where the wind- 
ing road from the river reached the main town 
level. There were three or four cooper shops; 
one was that of George AV. Chapman, at the 
southwest corner of Third and Hampshire. A 



PAST AND PIJKSEXT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



49 



I'iii'Iit irixid fellow was Cliapniaii: hi' was very 
rouiul slioulderetl, for which he cared little, per- 
liajjs enjoyed it. as lie used to tell with much 
glee, how Thoinson, a bitr, noisy harum scaruni 
painter, ouee said to him. "Georye. what a 
splendid, full chested man you would be if your 
head was turned the other way." He left here 
a few yeans later for Texas, where he died, .ind 
few men had more friends. 

Wells >.^ .Alorgan (E. Wells and .1. I). .Mor- 
jranl had also a cooperate establishment in a 
log cabin on the nortliwest corner of the Public 
Square, and a shop run by .lolui Watts, we 
think in connection with the steam mill, was at 
the foot of Delaware .street. There were four 
tailor shops: that of J. P. Bert, father of the 
present well known Bert famil.v. on Fourth 
street. o|)posite (iod's barn, of Louis Cossoii. 
who had bought out Michael Jfast, and was as 
eccentric a Gaul as Mr. Mast was a Teuton, and 
IT. B. Swartz, both on the west side of the 
public s((uare, and 8. Leachman's, on Hamp- 
shire near Sixth. Mr. Bert died in ISGO. re- 
gretted as he had Ijeen respected in life. ilr. 
Cosson, leaving a prosperous tailoring business 
engaged in other pursuits, stearaboating, at the 
last, and died in St. Louis. 

H. L. ^lontanden was the first, and for a long 
time, the only silversmith and jeweler. His 
.shop was at the corner of Maine and Fifth, over 
Holmes' store, afterward moved immediately 
east of Brown's hotel, where he engaged in 
mei-chandise with Deacon E. B. Kimball. The 
lattei-. with ilr. AVhite. soon after took the 
steam mill of J. T. Holmes & Co.. and ran the 
same for many years. ]\Iontanden, who moved 
to Iowa some years later, was a worthy kind 
of a man and something of a character. Gov. 
"Wood used to tell, with his well known zest, of 
his calling on Alontanden with a gentleman who 
desired to have his watch repaired. ^I.. after 
examining, declined to touch it, saying, "I can 
do good blacksmith work on all the watches 
about here, but yours, Mr. T., is too fine a 
watch for me to meddle with." "Well." said 
the would-lie-customer, ''I thank you. and must 
say that you are too honest a man to be work- 
ing at what you can't do." Whether this had 
any effect in influencing his subsequent change 
in business can't be known, perhaps it had. 



QUINCY AS A TOWN— LAND BUSINESS— 
THE QT'TNC'Y HOUSE. 

Continuing and completing these references 
to the various business occupations of this year. 
as summai-ized by .Tudae Snow, and mention of 



the men wild conducted them, we come to what 
were the principal factors in the promising 
prosjjccts of the place. These were the (Govern- 
ment Land Office (of which hereafter) and the 
"lanil agency" before named, and the Quincy 
House, which latter, although built dui-ing the 
two following years, was ])rojected this year 
:ini| was hor-n u\' the land agency and hence 
may lie properly mentioned in this connec- 
tion. The "land agency" was that of Tillson, 
Moore i.^- ("ii.. .lolin Tillson. Jr.. F. ( '. ^Moore, 
Lloyil .Moiton. !'>. F. Willis, and succeeding 
him on his death jilioiit this time, S. C. Sher- 
man, partners therein. It had been established 
by .Mr. Tillson, at Ilamilto-i, now Hillsboro. in 
1820. and in 1834-5 the other parties above 
named were associated in th<^ firm and the office 
was transferred to Quincy. 

It was a fortunate circumstance that brought 
it to this ]ilace. Had Peoria been selected as 
the state capital in.stead of Springfield it would 
have been taken there, and our rival city would 
then have reaped the advantage of being the 
great land center and of having the big hotel. 

Few men were as extensively known through- 
out this section of the state as these agents, 
both because of their personal dealings with so 
many of the incoming settlers and their fre- 
(luent periodical trips into all the counties of 
the tract. 

John Tillson came to the west from ilassa- 
chusetts in 1819, landing at Shawneetowu on 
the same day with Gov. Wood. Spendiua' the 
following winter in Edwardsville. recording 
deeds and looking into land business of his own 
and othei-s. forseeing what fruitful business 
])ros])ects lay in the lands of the then unsettled 
Jlilitary Tract, he established an agency, as 
above stated, near the state capital, for the 
i-eason, that, then and for some years after, the 
tax on non-resident lands (which paid state 
tax only) was paid at the state capital and not 
in the counties as now. This business grew 
so i-apidly that in two years from that time it 
comprehended the agency of almost all the non- 
resident land in the state. So much so that we 
have lettei's from the state auditor saying. "We 
have our books now ready, please come and pay 
the state tax." Later, when the taxes by law 
were paid in the counties, and the general inter- 
ests of the business required a location near 
the lands, I\ri-. Tillson removed with his office 
to and resided at Quin<-y until his death. He 
was found dead in his bed at the Peoria house 
in 1853, having died instantly, as did his father 
and grandfather, of heart disea.se. Business 
pei-plexities shortened a life that otherwise 
might have reached, as has those of many of 
his family before him. to nearlv a centurv. lie 



50 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



was a large man, of unusually rapid and power- 
ful action, both muscular and mental; thought 
but little of rising early and walking from 
his home to Vandalia (the capital) twent.v-eight 
miles distant, in time for breakfast and to at- 
tend to business for the day. His philanthropy 
and sagacious public spirit were part of our 
early state history. A modest and unosten- 
tatious man, he contributed to the welfare of 
society in many and substantial ways. In the 
town of his tirst residence, which he founded, 
fostered and beautified, making it one of the 
most attractive villages in the state, he would 
not permit even a street to be named after him. 
Many of the earlier beneficial enterprises of the 
state received from him origin or aid. To one 
of our oldest educational institutions he private- 
ly gave a large subscription, conditioned that 
another should also contribute and that it 
should bear the name of the latter. We heard 
Gov. Wood say to him, "If you had come here 
when I did there would be twice as many peo- 
ple here by this time." 

Francis C. ]\Ioore. whom almost everybody 
from Calhoun county to Rock Island used to 
know, was a polished, graceful gentleman of 
small stature, singularly alert in thought and 
action. He was born in New York, brought up 
with a mercantile education, came west in 1834, 
entered into the land office at Ilillsboro, came 
to Quincy the following year. He was the lead- 
ing partner in the firm of Moore, ilorton & Co. 
for some thirty years, when it went out of ex- 
istence. He was a very attractive man ; indus- 
trious, precise in business, kindly, social, .jovial 
as a boy: a most earnest member of the Epis- 
copal church, of which he may almo.st be called 
the father and founder, in this city. He was 
twice married, leaving a family of eight chil- 
dren, three of whom were John L. Moore, Mrs. 
J. T. Baker and :Mrs. J. G. Rowland. He died 
in Omaha, at the residence of one of his chil- 
dren in 1874. 

Lloyd ilorton. "Old Uncle ^Morton." as all 
called him, for he was one of those .slow-man- 
nered men who seem old when young, was a 
Massachusetts man, a brother-in-law of Mr. 
Tillson. He came west in 1829, clerked in the 
office until 1834, when he became a partner and 
later brought his family to Quincy. He was 
an odd man. with a slow, drawling speech, much 
intelligence and quaint wit. He bore throiigh 
life a proverbial reputation for strong, good 
.iudgment and integrity, a special distinction 
which few gain who work for it, but which the 
public instinct confers upon some men, and 
i-arely bestows it wrongly. lie had singularly 
cool courage and determination: qualities 
needed and tested among the rough scenes of 



earlier daj's. An odd .stoiw is told of him, which 
is "ower true." It is said that at the time of 
the Nelson riots, he came in from his home, the 
present Buckley place, on Broadway and Twen- 
ty-fourth, with a gun loaded to the muzzle with 
shot, slugs, etc., and answered all queries by 
saying the he meant to point his gun towards 
the left of the enemy and pull trigger and 
swing it round to make a swathe tlirongli them. 
Fortunately for all hands, no fight came off. 
otherwise the stoiw woidd have been too mourn- 
ful to be told. He died in 1862. leaving three 
children, John T. for many years a circuit .iudge 
in Kansas; the late Col. Charley Morton, and 
one daughter, Joanna. 

Seth C. Sherman. Avhose somewhat recent 
death and burial on the same day with his wife, 
is still fresh in memory, was a Vermonter, well 
educated and of unusual literary tastes and at- 
tainments. His library was one of the largest 
and best selected in the place. He moved to 
the west about 1830. located at Vandalia, was 
editor and lawyer while there, thence came to 
Quincy with the other partners and remained in 
the business for many years. He. with F. C. 
and Ebenezer iloore. engaged for a time in 
banking about 1856. He was the first collector 
of internal revenue for this district. He died 
in 1879. 

Connected with the locating of the land busi- 
ness in Quincy Avas the erection of the Quincy 
H(n;se. It was, and yet is, a puzzle to some why 
so large and expensive a building should have 
been built at such a time in the little town of 
Quincy. Its anomalous appearance may be con- 
ceived when we note that there were not a 
dozen brick buildings in town, only two or three 
about the square, no building existing over two 
stories high, and but few such; that no .street 
was graded to the river, the old winding track 
from about the foot of Vermont to the vicinity 
of the present City Hall, being the only road 
fi-om the landing to the square : that there was 
no Maine street east of Sixth : that on Hamp- 
shire all was open country beyond Eighth, that 
north of Broadway were woods and cornfields, 
that the same appeared three blocks south of 
I\Iaine, and the contrasted size and elegance of 
such a structure may be fairly imagined. It 
had been the original intention of ^Ir. Tillson, 
who built it. to erect a hotel costing about 
twenty thousand dollars. Deacon E. B. Kim- 
ball, who had owned part of the land on which 
the house was built, was interested in the enter- 
prise, but the whole was finally taken by ]\Ir. 
Tillson and the pi-oject enlarged with the fol- 
lowing design. A stock company had been 
formed, composed of eastern men who owned 
most of the non-resident land in the ililitary 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADA]\rs COUNTY. 



51 



Tract, of which .Mr. Tillsoii wms iiuide general 
agent and snperiiilciulciil. 

A hu-ge ])()rti()ii of tlic Ijinds witi' held l)y the 
tax title. Tinder which, indeed, iiidst of the land 
in this section was originally settled and im- 
proved. It Mas exceedingly desirable to secure 
favorable legishition so as to (|niet the contests 
over titles. 'I'lic slate legislature was not par- 
ticularly zealous to guard the interests of 
foreign land owiui-i-s. none the nu)re because 
these owiun-s were mostly from the east, and it 
Avas suggested that if the company owned a sub- 
stantial improvement and interest their claims 
and those of i)ersons who bought from them, 
would be more highly regarded and secure. 
With this object. Mr.'Tillson. built the house 
at a cost, when furnished, of one hiuidred and 
six thousanil tiolhirs. It was transferred to 
the company, which then became the Quincy 
House Company. The objects were partially ac- 
complished, favorable legislation as to time and 
place of recording deeds, the "possession law,'" 
etc., being the fruit of this plan : but the bene- 
ficial results wei'e brief. Between 1835 and 
1838 financial reverses came. "Hard times" 
such as have never since been felt, stagnated 
the business of the country, and the Quincy 
House Comjiany and all connected with it went 
down, but the benefits to Quincy fi'oni its con- 
struction Avere not (inly innnediate, but iternia- 
nent. 

Charles Ilowland, from lliddleborough, 
Mass., was the architect. When built, aud for 
some years afterward, the house stood with its 
lower floor even with the street, but a decline 
grade on ]\Iaine street and the lowering of 
Fourth street left the cellar wall on that side 
about half exposed, and many Avere the pro- 
phecies that tlie Avail would fall. But houses 
in those days were built to stay, and this has 
stood and shown a strength under a test such 
as few sfi'ucfures could bear. It Avas most thor- 
oughly Inult: cost Avas nothing as against com- 
pleteness. The stone Avork Avas extra solid for 
those days, the bi-ici<s Avere pressed, the rafters 
of best seasonetl hard wood: the pine flooring 
and fiinshing Avood was brought by boat from 
Pittsburg: the upholstering, furniture, etc., 
Avere nnide in Boston. 

Its construction furuishetl work foi- nmrc me- 
chanics than then lived in Quincy. It Avas 
opened in 1838, l>y Wm. Monroe, formerly of 
the Bloomfield house, Bo.ston. JIany will ]ilcas- 
antly renu'nibei' that ])rince of iienial, jovial 
landlords, the stately, substantial landlady, and 
their three jictive, attractiA^e daughters. They 
are all dead. .Mr. .Monroe, after leaving here 
Avith his son-in-law. Charley AndreAvs, kept the 
ilonroe hoiise in St. Louis, and latei- tlie Ncav- 



hall house at Milwaukee. It is a little singular 
that the Quincy house, the finest hotel of its 
time in the west, and the Newhall house, tAveu- 
ty years later the leading Avestern hotel of its 
tlay. should have been kept by the same jiai'f ies, 
and been destroyed almost at the same time. 
The house has been operated almost constantly 
from the first. It Avas closed in the Avinter of 
1845-6 and 1850-51 for repairs, and once or 
tAvice for a brief i)eriod, has been siuc<' tenant- 
less. Its landlords after Mr. ^Monroe have been 
Mdler & Guttery, 1), W. Miller, O. M. Sheldon. 
Floyd & Kidder, Boon & Blossom and one or 
tAvo others AA'hose names Ave do not recall, E, S. 
]Morehouse, and lastly (jeo. P. Fay. 

It Avas a leading social instituti(ui in its early 
days, a sort of society hea(l((uarters. (faiety 
gathered in its halls, and whateA'er Avas done 
by the "Quincy House ladies" and the many 
young men Avho boarded there Avas society ex 
cathedra. Those Avere generous, joyous times. 
Everyl)ody kneAV everybody, himself and fam- 
ily, horse aud dog. If you met some one whom 
you did not knoAv, the first friend you saw 
could tell you who he AA-as. Quincy Avas a kind 
of Rns in nrbe. Its scant area and its palatial 
hotel, combined pastoral freedom Avith toAvn 
luxury. Refinement and inirality intertAvined. 
It Avas but a fcAv moments' Avalk from a city 
hotel to a fcn-est seclusion. Game and fish Avere 
Avithin hand reach and plenty as blackberries. 
All this made it an attractive and familiar sum- 
mer resort from St. Louis and the south. 

The impression made on a stranger by such 
a contrasted condition of things Avas Avell told 
US by Dr. Barflett, one of the keenest of the 
old time sport.smen : "I came to Quincy," said 
he, "knoAving nothing of it and nobody in the 
place, but looking for a place to settle. I got 
in late at night and only noticed Avith surprise 
the size and style of the hotel, AA'hich seemed 
better than in St. Louis. The next morning I 
looked out of my third story AviudoAvs but 
couldn't see much toAvn. It Avas country all 
around. I Avent doAvn stairs and found Mr. 
^Monroe biiying a saddle of A'enisou for fifty 
cents, and just then (it Avas before breakfast) 
('apt. Phillips came in with his gun and dog 
aud a back load of (|uails Avhich he had shot in 
Keyes' cornfield. I went upstairs and told my 
Avife that I had found the place to stay." 

It Avas the center for ucavs from abroad and 
at home. There Avere no daily pa]Kn-s then, no 
telegra])hic ncAvs. It came through the St. 
Louis papers, or Avas brought by retiu-ning citi- 
zens. The big reading room Avas the place for 
concourse in summer and Avinter CA-enings. and 
though the day of the old house is over and its 
like Avill come never auaiu. there are not a 



52 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



few liugering grey heads of the place who will 
pleasantly recall those gossii^ gatherings in the 
old office and halls: and the toes of some now 
stately silvered dames will yet tingle at the 
sometime recollection of those eadeneed foot 
tappings on the parlor carpets when Taylor and 
Baker and Bert and Chick, and the "Monroe 
girls," and the "Merend girls" et id gemis 
omue. struck out fun from joy's freshest foun- 
tain as they did in old times, and as only old 
times knew how to do, with the great landlady 
seated in her cozy whist coi-ner, and her much 
lesser half, the mirth eyed landlord, rubbing his 
generous palms and looking smilingly on. 

The government land office for the public 
land district which comprised the Military 
Tract had been located at Quincy in 1831. The 
office was on the south side of Hampshire street 
near Sixth, where it remained for a number of 
years. But little business was then transacted 
for some time, there being only seventeen en- 
tries during the first year (1831), the reason for 
this being that at that time no lands north of 
Adams county were subject to entry. For 
some reason, to the Avriter imknown, the gov- 
ernment periodically placed only portions of its 
surveyed land in the market, and although the 
entire Military Tract had been surveyed in 
1815 and '16, it was not until this year that 
all of the district was thrown open to the 
public. 

The first sale at auction, as lands were then 
from time to time offered, took place June 15th 
of this year. From thence until 1857-8, when 
most of the lands being entered, the office was 
transferred to Springfield, this business added 
largely to the growth of'tlie place. The first 
Register and Receiver were severally, Samuel 
Alexander (father of Perry Alexander) and 
Thomas Carlin. They wei'e succeeded in 1837-8 
by Wm. 6. Flood and Samuel Leech, after 
whom came, in 1845. Samuel Holmes and Hiram 
Rogei's ; in 1849, Henry Asbury and H. V. Sulli- 
van, and in 1853, A. C. Marsh and Damon 
Hauser, at the expiration of whose term the 
office was removed. 

Of Thomas Carlin mention has been made. 
Samuel Alexander, the first Register, was a 
man of much force of character, very rough in 
manner, extremely earnest and ultra in politics 
and wielding much influence with his party. 
Gov. Wood, whose oft-told old stories have in 
them alwaj's a local relish, was wont to tell of 
his first and second meeting with Alexander. 
In 1824 political feeling, fanned by the anti- 
slavery agitation, was at a fever heat. The 
ciuestion of "convention" or "no convention" 
was voted upon. Convention meant a new pro 
slavery constitution. No convention meant a 



free state. To Gov. Edward Coles are we in- 
debted for the blessing that Illinois was not 
then made a slave-holding state, ilr. Wood, 
immediately after the election, went east and 
on his way took to Edwardsville, the then state 
capital, the returns from this section. When 
the boat on which he traveled stopped at 
Shawneetown, a crowd came on board and 
asked to learn how the state had voted. The 
captain said, "here's a young man just from 
Edwardsville. perhaps he can tell you." Wood, 
thus referred to said that "it was thought at 
Edward.sville that 'convention' was beaten by 
about 1,500." "It's a d— d lie!" said one of 
tlie parties, answering more from his wish than 
his knowledge. AVood picked up a chair and 
but for the interposition of the captain a small 
civil war was imminent. 

Nine years after, as John Wood tells it, "a 
man, all alone, in a canoe, paddled wp to op- 
posite my cabin at the foot of Delaware street, 
landed and staid with me over night. He told 
me that his name was Alexander, that he had 
come to open the laud office of which he had 
been appointed Register." While at supper 
he said, "I think I've seen you before." Mr. 
Wood then told him that he was the man who 
at Shawneetown gave him the lie for reporting 
the result of the election of 1824. "Oh, no," 
says Alexander, "it must have been some other 
d — d fool," and although Wood on every con- 
venient occasion hinted at this story of the first 
meeting, Alexander's memory could only be re- 
freshed by the statement that "it was some 
other d— d fool." 

The census, taken this year, showed a popula- 
tion in tlie county of 7,042, subject to military 
duty 1.319; in the town the population was 
753, and 270 subject to military duty — about 
18 per cent in the, county and about 36 per cent 
in the town. This is a singular contrast, but it 
indicates how much more rapidly during the 
last ten years the county had been settled up, 
and also that the toAvn population was largely 
nuide up of young and single men. It indicates 
another curious fact in connection with the con- 
tests for the removal of the county seat, which 
first became a contested question during this 
year. 

It will be remembered that in 1825. as has 
been stated in a former chapter, the commis- 
sioners appointed by the legislature to select 
the county seat came here with the intention 
of locating the same at the geographical center 
of the county — a somewhat natural notion that 
often prevailed in those days. It is also known 
that needing a pilot for that purpose they en- 
gaged ]Mr. Willard Keyes, an exi)erienced early 
pioneer, as a guide, and that 'Sir. K. proved 



I'AST AND l*I!ESENT OF ADA.MS COUXTY. 



53 



himself to he ii'iiidc, ijliilosoplicr niul frieiul, ami 
guided tlie coiiiiiiissioiiers hack to Quiiiey after 
a toilsome day's search for the eeiiter of the 
county among the Jlill creek swamps, where 
they more nearly reached its bottom; philos- 
opher enough to know where the county seat 
ought to be, and that the best use of knowledge 
is often to not use it at all, ami friend enough 
to his own views and to the then and future in- 
terests of tiiwii and county to thus bring about 
the select iuii which the wearied commissioners 
made on llic following day, and the living 
gr;ititu(le of C^uincy will never forget the 
judicious blindness and far foreseeing forget- 
fulne.ss of this experienced pioneer Keyes on 
this pregnant occasion. No objection was made 
to the selection then nor for years after. 

During the year 183-l:-5 however, a move- 
ment was originated to compel the change of 
the county seat from Quincy to a "geographical 
center." This was the commencement of that 
nonsense which nurtured a sectional strife be- 
tween city and connty, altogether baseless, but 
renewed at two later i)eriods. The designation 
of "geographical center" was geograj)hically 
incorrect — a nuitter of no consequence now, but 
one that cut quite a figure then and more so 
in the contest of some six years later. At the 
August election the vote stood for Quincy 618, 
"for commissioners' stake" 492; Quincy at the 
time casting 390 votes — of these 320 were for 
itself and 70 against. Later, in 1841, when the 
contest lay between Quincy and Columbus, the 
vote, as declared, was 1,545 for the former and 
1.636 for the latter. Still later, on Nov. 18, 
1875, there were given for Quincy 7,283 votes, 
and for Coatsburg 3.109. 

This strife is now settled forever. These elec- 
tions are referred to as showing how slight Avas 
the sectional feeling in 1835, when, as it will be 
noted. Quincy contained but aboiit one-third of 
the votiuLi' population of the county and was 
successful : while in later years, when dema- 
gogue inlluciu-es had roused u]) prejudice the 
city stood about five to six in voting strength, 
still it won. 

The "coiiimissiouers" stake." which was 
voted for, as purporting to be the precise 
geogra]>hical centre of Adams county, and 
therefore the proper place at which to locate 
the county seat, was not (as before said") the 
exact centre of the county. Connected with the 
history of this county seat contest, and as show- 
ing also that the all prevalent central idea for 
a county "seat of justice" was not daunted by 
its decided defeat in 1835, but still smouldered, 
ready 1o be raked up and revived, as it was 
in 1841 and again in 1875. meeting at each 
period the same crushing fate. As pertinent to 



this, we rei)r()duc(> (anticipating seq\U'nt dates 
liy a year) the following from the Bounty Laud 
Register of Mny 27. 1836 : 



"SALE OF LOTS IX ADA:\ISBURC4, THE 

geo(;kapiiical cextke of adams 

COUNTY, ox TUESDAY, JUXE 21, 

1836. 

"Adamsburg is beautifully situated on a 
high, gently rolling ]irairie. in the geographical 
centre of Adams county, said to be on the quar- 
ter section designated by the counuissioners ap- 
pointed under a late act of the legislature as 
the most central, eligible and convenient point 
for the permanent locatiou of the seat of justice 
for said county, liut the gentlemen then owning 
it not being in the state the commissioners fixed 

He is a proper subject for mention for the 
upon a location about two and one-half miles 
east. A vote of the people being taken the lat- 
ter location of the commissioners was rejected 
by a very small majority, because of its not be- 
ing sufficiently central : so that a permanent site 
for the seat of justice has yet to be selected, and 
but little doubt remains that Adamsburg will 
be the place. Its commanding location," etc., 
etc. 

So ran the notice. The intended town above 
named was on the southwest quarter of section 
10, 1 south, 7 west, which is now in Gtilmer 
township, and has been for many years a most 
excellent farm. It was one of the thousand 
like speculative towns which dotted the state 
all over and had no existence beyond that of a 
paper and a plat and stakes driven in the 
ground. There existed at this time the maddest 
of manias among farmers and speculators who 
happened to own a handsomely situated quar- 
ter section of land, to survey and lay oiit the 
same, stake it out into streets, blocks and lots, 
give the place some pretentious name, advertise 
if for sale, and then lie back on the lazy dig- 
nity of having become a "town founder," and 
it u.sually happened that within the two or 
three succeeding years the founded town and 
the "town founder" were alike found to be 
foinulered. Special mention is here made of 
this town for the local reasons above given, and 
as it so well illustrates the town speculative 
ci-aze of the day. and also because some notable 
names wei'e affiliated with the county seat proj- 
ect. Stephen A. Douglas, James Berdan, Den- 
nis TJoekwell, leading lawyers and business men 
of Jacksonville; S. S. Brooks, a well known 
printer and managing politician of this state, 
afterward i-ecorder of Adams county, and J. 
H. Petit, editor at one time of the Quincy 



54 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



Arg'us (now Heraldj and some others nearly as 
well known, were the incubators of this selieme 
— proprietors of the property which they sup- 
posed might eventually become, through this 
geographical idea, the seat of justice of Adams 
county. The project ended almost as soon as it 
commenced, and the town of Adamsburg is 
among the "things that wei"e" not. 

The county commissioners in September in- 
vited praposals for the construction of a new 
coiirthouse, to be built "of brick of the best 
quality and in the neatest manner, the carpen- 
ters and joiners work to be of the best materials 
and finished in the most fashionable stj'le. " 
This was the well reinembered building, com- 
pleted in 1838, and destroyed by tire in 1875. 
Three months after this, its predecessor, the 
superannuated old log courthouse which had 
stood since 1825, went up in tiames. As much 
justice was done to the public wish when it 
went up as had ever emanated from within its 
log walls. 

Two notable departures from life occurred 
late in this year, the death of the first two per- 
manent settlers of the county, Daniel Lisle and 
Justus Pei'igo, who had resided here since about 
1819 or '20. They were both of the rough 
stamp of character connnon in those days, but 
good men in their waj'. Lisle was one of the 
early count}' commissioners and his name ap- 
pears on the earliest of the quaint court records 
in connection with a controversy with John 
Wood. Some of his family .still live in the 
southeastern part of the county. 

Heretofore there had been no other public 
burial ground than the south half of the block 
on which the courthouse stands, now known as 
Jefferson square, which had been reserved for 
cemetery uses when the town was platted in 
1825. A meeting of citizens was called on June 
2Gth, to initiate measures for the establish- 
ment of another cemetery, which resulted two 
years later, in 1837, in the jjurchase by the 
town from E. B. Kimball, of eight and 56-100 
acres at the southeast corner of Maine and 
Twenty-fourth streets, now [Madison park. The 
price paid was ^6i2. There had jn-obaljly been 
three hundred or more burials in the first named 
cemetery up to the time of its discontinuance. 
Some of the bodies buried were those of strang- 
ers, nameless and unknown : other gi'aves con- 
tained the bodies of those who, through neglect 
of friends to mark them, could not be identified. 
Most of them were transferred to the other 
cemetery, and many of these again, at a later 
period were buried in Woodland cemetery. Yet 
there still lie and M'ill forever lie. many undis- 
tinguished and unclaimed bones, rotten and for- 
gotten, as was noted, when a few years since. 



the grading of the ground for the new court- 
house exhumed much of this old sepulchral 
soil. 

There rests, with other honored dust, the 
ashes of A. F. Hubbard, lieutenant-governor of 
Illinois from 1822 to 1826, a queer character, 
wliose claim to fame lies more on what he was 
not. than what he was. and who by this accident 
of an undiscovered grave obtains a more widely 
published notoriety than anything his merits 
or public service could have secured, 
of its navigable streams, the Mississippi, Ohio, 
reason that he was the first Quincy man who 
filled, or rather in his case it may be better said, 
occupied, a prominent state position. 

His residence here was brief and his public 
career marked only by his absurd and futile at- 
tempts to supplant Gov. Coles during the lat- 
ter "s temporary absence from the state. He 
sought the governorship in 1826 but failed. The 
following slice from one of his speeches illus- 
trates his capacity and character: 

"'Fellow citizens, I'm a candidate for gov- 
ernor; I don't pretend to be a man of extraor- 
dinary talents, nor claim to be e(iual to Julius 
Caesar or Napoleon Bonaparte, and I ain't as 
great a man as my opponent. Gov. Edwards. 
Yet I think I can govern you pretty well. I 
don't think it will require a very extra smart 
man to govern you: for to tell the truth fellow 
citizens, I don't think you'll be hard to govern, 
no how. ' ' 

He was Avell described by Gov. Coles as a 
"historic oddity." A well enough meaning 
man. of sliallow bearings, but inordinate aspir- 
ations, type of a class which we to-day see still 
survives. Men, whom the shrewd and sarcastic 
Judge Purple used to speak of as "fellows who 
forced themselves on the public, claiming that 
they have a mission to fill, which tliey most 
always fool-fill." 

The cost of living at this period was in some 
respects light and again in others heavy. Home 
products were easily and cheaply obtained at 
low prices: imported stuffs were exceptionally 
dear. The rapidly rising population, the ac- 
celei-atiiig liusiness and the growing plentitude 
of money caused these somewhat c(mtrary con- 
ditions. Labor prices and the Inisiness situa- 
tion is i)ictured in the following fi'om the 
Regi.ster in November of this year: 

"Business is brisk, boats being ci'owded to 
excess with freight and passengers; great com- 
plaints are made for the want of mechanics to 
construct buildings to shelter the emigrants and 
their goods. At present carpenters are getting 
from $1.50 to $2.00 per day and found. ]Masons 
$2.00, and other mechanics in proportion. Com- 
mon laborers are getting $1.00 and $1.25. Hands 



PAST AND TKESENT OF ADA:\rS COUNTY. 



55 



on a rariii fid .tl.'j.OO to $1^1.00 per niiiiilli: I'lr 
per cord paid for ciittiiig wood, ll is rdiiiul 
very difficult indeed to obtain help at tiiese 
priees. 'I'lie an-ivai of a nnnd)cr of industrious 
hands would he hailed with joy by a larui' nuin- 
bcr of oui' rilizens. "' 

\'alut's in these da\"s cannot be easily oi' ac- 
cui'ately stated. An inipeifcct jn'ice current for 
tiie yeai' shows tiie following' averages: Hams, 
i^^iioc: beef. 4c: best butter, l(3c : cotifee, "iOc ; 
brown suji:ar, 12c: loaf snyai', 20c: whisky, 
30@50c per uallon: cheese, lOc; coal. 20c per 
bushel: tlour \aryin'.i iinicli but averaging 
thnuigh the \-ear aboiil .~|^4 pci- hai'rcl: beeswax 
which had been a cash staple, Kic : of grass 
seed ( wliii'h appears to have been very .scarce), 
clover ii^H. timothy .i^:5. blue t^ra.ss, .'|i2 ; hides 9c, 
green hides 4Vi;C: cut nails lOc: wrought nails 
20c; .salt $1.00'@$1.50: wheat sold for about 
50c: potatoes ranged during the yeai' from 2.")c 
to -tl — showing then as now tlie uncei'tainty of 
tlus climate for the gr((wing of the potato, as 
sigiiiticant ly told by the southern dai'key, "dars 
no medoci'ity "bout de tater, his head is down in 
the ground, he's invariably good or inebitably 
bad; you can't bet on the tater." 

.\boul this time importations of staples, such 
as flour and bacon, ceased: the home produc- 
tions being sntificieut. There had been from 
four to five thousand dollars' worth of these 
and siK'li articdes bi'ought in annually since 
1S;J1, but during the last half of 18:34 and the 
first si.\ months of IH'A'i about $40,000 worth 
of these staples were home-iirodueed much 
more than meeting the local demanil. 

l'"rom this time Qniney lived mostly on the 
l)roducts of local industries. During these past 
two lialf years there had lieen atiout 25,000 
bushels of wheat ground. ■S.-'iOO hogs killed 
and packed, at au average of .^i^.T."). also, for the 
first time. 40 head of cattle slaughtered, at $3 
])er cwt. : 900 bbls. of beef and pork ]iut np. 
about ISO.OOO [)onnds of bacon. 1.300 kegs of 
lard and 2.000 pounds of tallow. I'ork sold at 
about sjill per barrel. 

Th(> above gives, as near as it is |iossible to 
oldaiii it. the current business transacted at 
this |i<'i-iod. The season was favorable for 
traftie and travel. Navigation oiiened as early 
as January 2:ird and closed Xovember 2.")tli. 
holding good throuuhout the rest of the year. 

With liiis |)eriod awoke that wild railroad 
mania which, shaping itself into the "internal 
improvement system"' and luninng to a most 
extreme excess, fastened upon the state an 
enormous debt, burdening its progres.s for many 
years, until now after nearly half a century of 
struggle, the iiicundiratice is hM]i]iily wiped out 



forever. There was a valid excuse ior this 
seemingly reckless sentiment and action. 

Our great unopened state had thus far oidy 
been reached by the water courses. The banks 
Illinois. Wabash, and even the Kaskaskia (i)r 
Ukaw, the old Indian name,) were fringed with 
settlements, but the back eoimtry was still a 
grass wilderness, and the instinct of enter- 
prise craved to reach and i'eai> the richness of 
this untamed prairie soil. Only l)y the divining 
touch of the railroad wand coidd this lui- 
bounded fertility be aroused aiul develope<l. A 
rapid artlor for imiirovement spread over the 
state. It i)ulsated here. With the knowledge 
that the legislature wotild adopt a comprehen- 
sive jiroject of railroad building — called "inter- 
nal improvement,"" the first organized move- 
ment of Quincy was nnide on December 11th of 
this year, when after some weeks of previous 
notice, the first railroad meeting was held at 
the Land Office hotel, which was largely at- 
tended and very earnest. It met in connection 
with similar movements at Clayton. Beards- 
town, .lacksonville and eastward through the 
state, and also still farther east on the present 
Wabash parallel in Indiana. J. T. Holmes was 
chairman, and C. i\I. Woods secretary. Most 
of the representative men of the place were 
present and acting. Judge Young was the chief 
adviser. The action of the meeting was that. 

WHEREAS, The subject of internal improve- 
ment by means of canals and railroads has 
jtistly excited much public attention throitgli- 
oul the state, etc. 

Resolved. That the legislatui-e be respectfully 
re(piested to incorporate a company to con- 
struct a railroad from Quincy by way of Clay- 
ton and RiLshville to Beardstown ; or from 
Quincy by way of Clayton and ilt. Sterling 
to ^leredosia on the Illinois river, etc. 

This was the initial movement from which 
came in legislative action afterward the North- 
ern Cross railroad, out of \vhich the Wabash 
and ('.. B. & Q. have grown. 

This road was built, (we can hardly say com- 
idetedj and operated from Springfield to the 
Illinois, on the present line of the Wabash. 
It is the oldest railroad in the state and the 
oidy one that under the iidernal improvement 
system had even a jiartial finish : and on its 
charter the two roads above named have been 
based and extended. 

Patriotism was vigorous in these primitive 
days. On the 4th of July. Browning made the 
speech and Snow read the de<daration at '"the 
church," there was but one church then, piety 
being as much concentrated as it is now scat- 
tered, and the exercises of the day ended with 
a baufjuet at the Land Office hotel. This hotel, 



56 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



where the railroad meeting above alluded to 
was held, was a notable place in its day — a long, 
white, two-story frame structure on the north 
side of Hampshire, a short distance west of 
Fifth. There Avere two other taverns, and they 
were duplicates of this one and the story might 
be applied to all. It is told that one of the 
travelers in the semi-weekly stage coach just 
leaving for Springfield (evidently a stranger), 
asked a fellow passenger, "why do they call 
this the Land Office hotel:'"' "Because," was 
the reply, "this is the town where all the land 
offices are located, and land is entered and sold. 
All this splendid soil that yon see around us is 
for sale there." "Aye. aye," said the other, in 
a tone that a traveler uses who has just had a 
bad breakfast, "I luiderstand : it is well named, 
th'? land there is two inches above boai'd (a 
sailor's expression) all over the floor, and you 
can sample the soil in any of the rooms." 

The cost of learning may be estimated from 
the advertisement of a "select school for yovmg 
ladies." by a teacher of more than ordinary 
cjualification. The terms, per quarter, were: 
Reading, writing, arithmetic and geography, 
.$2.00; higher English liranehes, $2.50; drawing, 
painting, etc., $4.00. Probably the pupils got 
their money's worth full as well as they do now. 
In February of this year was chartered the 
State Bank of Illinois, with some singubir in'o- 
visions. The capital stock was to be $1,.')00.000 
of Avhich $1,400,000 must be subscribed by in- 
dividuals, and $100,000 to be taken by the state 
whenever the legislatm-e chose to do so. The 
stock .shares were $100 each. It was provided 
that tiie main bank should be at Springfield, 
with a branch at Vandalia, and that six other 
brandies might be located at discretion. A sub- 
scription of $250,000 was demanded as a basis 
for the location of each branch liank. There 
was subscribed on the 10th of April from 
Quincy and vicinity $120,100. It was not, how- 
ever, until the following year that the branch 
was located here. 

This was a somewhat marked year for settle- 
ment. The earlier "old settlers" prior to 1830 
were but few, and of these now at this date, 
(1883) all but two have passed away. Immigra- 
tion subsequent to that period until 1834. was 
not great : much of it was transitory, and three 
.successive years of blighting sickliness had told 
heavily against the population. With 1834. 
however, and the few following years, the tide 
of settlement rapidly swelled. During the year 
1834, there had come to stay, the Burns, Brown 
and Cleveland families. George and Ed. Bond, 
Edward AVells, J. D. ^Morgan, H. Dills. Adam 
Schmidt. Kaltz. Ilcrleman. Jolni Schell. 
Delebar, F. C. Moore, N. Pease (who had visited 
the town before), the McDades and a few other 



of well ]<nown names. At the same time came 
to tlie county, families yet here and more or 
less known to tlie city, the Sykes and Robinsons. 
oi Beverly; A. II. D. Butz, of Liberty; Sear- 
borough and the Bernards, of Payson ; the 
Turners, of Ellington, and Ursa; the late 
Obediah Waddell, of Melrose, who had seen the 
place twenty years before and might properly 
be called its first visitor. He passed over the 
spot where Quincy now is with the Howard ex- 
pedition after the war of 1812, when there then 
stood only tlie remains of a few scattered 
wigwams, but no evidences of a permanent set- 
tlement. 

His story, with other evidence, dissipates the 
idea that this was the site of an important old 
Indian town. There was probably but one large 
Indian village in the county, in the northern 
part near Bear Creek, evidences of which long 
exi.sted. Another also, long abandoned, was 
situated on the edge of Pike county, on the 
Sny Ecarte (or lost wandering channel, now 
known as the Sny Carte Slough or Sny), but 
all this section south of the Des Moines rapids 
and above the mouth of the Illinois was de- 
batable ground between the Sacs and Foxes, 
the Pottowatamies, the lowas of the north, and 
tlieir hei-editai'y foes, the Piasaws, Kaskaskias, 
the mini, tlie Shawiiees and other hostile tribes 
of the south and east. 

"With the year of 1835, of which we are writ- 
ing, there was a decided increase in permanent 
population. Among the well known settlers of 
this date were Major J. H. Holton, Capt. Pit- 
man, Joel Rice, Lloyd Slorton, J. P. Bei-t, the 
Churches, ilitchells, Stobies, Grimms, MeClin- 
tocks. A. Konantz, Phelps and many others, also 
Castle, for a time at Columbus, the Blacks and 
Wallaces, of Clayton ; Riehardsons and Cutters, 
of Beverly; Bliven, Prince and Pottle, of Pay- 
son ; the Shinns, of Melrose ; Bartholemew, of 
^lendon, or Fairfield, as it was then called, and 
many others whose names are identified with 
the city and county history. 

The French named this slough Chenal ecarte 
or "narrow channel." This was first abbre- 
viated and called Sny Carte, and now is called 
the Snv. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
1836. 

NEW SETTLERS. NEW WELL ORDERED. EARL 
PIERCE. MILITIA. MARION CITY. RAILROAD 
SCHEMES. LOCATION OP MARKET HOUSE. THE 
ONLY NEWSPAPER. 

f'oming with this year was a large number of 
"old settlers," men, whose names are well 
known, and some of them are living at this 
date, (1886). 



PAST AM) i'UESE.N'l' OF ADAMS ('OUNTY. 



57 



Aiminir tlioiii there were F. W. Jansen. tlio 
Glasses. Diekhuts. Jiinkerts. Stewarts. Win. 
Gerry. \V. II. (in'^t\ Amos Green. S. K. Seger. 
C. A. Warren. L. Kingnian. IT. V. Sullivan, J. 
T. Baker. (Jeorge IMilier, Wilson Lane, A. E. 
Drain, and many beside whose names cannot be 
given. Tiie foi-eign iunnigration, mostly Ger- 
man, began largely with this year. 

The political action of tlie toM'n fatliers was 
relatively of as nnich importance and created 
as fair a ])i'oportion of interest and criticism 
as do the intellectual wrestlings among the city 
fathers of to-day. 

The board meetings were not fr^Mpient. At 
the April and again at the I\Iay session, the 
clerk was ordered to notify the road supervisors 
specitically of their duties, etc., which shows 
that supervisors could be as lazy in those days 
as now. 

An ordinance was passed on Slay 21st. which 
reads somewhat strangely: "Be it ordained 
by the jiresident and trustees of the town of 
Quincy, that all buildings noM" erected or that 
shall hereafter be erected on any of the public 
grounds in the limits of this corporation are 
hereby declared a public nuisance." As the 
old courthouse had just been burned and an- 
other was in process of erection, this looked like 
a wrathful thrust at local architects. The 
"meaning meant well" — as C. A. Warren was 
wont to say — of this sort of a boomerang ordi- 
nance, and its true intent can be understood, 
yet it is not certain that a similar one might 
with truth aiid propriety be placed on most of 
the corporation records of the country. 

At the June election G. W^. Chapman. Joel 
Rice, Wm. Skinner, E. L. Pearson and J. T. 
Holmes were elected as trustees. Holmes was 
made president and Pearson secretary. The 
report of Ti-easurer Williams for the past year 
gives an insight into the financial affairs of the 
town, besides exhibiting another unusual fea- 
ture. Tlis report showed as collected on taxes 
$249.82. and .$."). (10 paid in for show license, 
making .$254.82. of receipts: that he had paid 
out $2.58. and hence was a creditor of the town 
to the amount of $:).18. 

As 'Sir. Williams was again chosen treasurer 
by the boai'd and accepted the office, it would 
appear that the right of the town to owe its 
treasurer was recognized and approved by both 
parties. It does not appear that the treasurer 
required the town to make to him a bond. 

The ])rominent jHiblic improvements at this 
time were I lie public mcIIs. two of which were 
ordered to ■"be siuik on tiie public square, of 
suitable dimensions as .soon as practicable." 
These proved to be well-springs of trouble and 
contest, ruiuiing through several years, con- 



tracts thrown up, work abandoned, connnit- 
tees of examination, etc.. before they were com- 
pleted, making the same proportionate stir 
that a similar (juestion does now. (An allusion 
to the agitation of the question of ownership by 
the city of tlie water works. Ed.) 

It seems as if the average town and city 
father has always been more or less affiicted by 
"water on the bi'ain." A strange remissness 
iu regard to th(> jiublic business of the town 
both in meeting and recording the same ap- 
pears. Although monthly meetings of the board 
were prescribed, the record of July 5th adjourns 
to "next I\[onday. July 11th." but no record 
again ai)])ears until the next February. Either 
the board had nothing to do or it was ashamed 
to tell of it. 

At the August election (and it may be stated 
that until after 1848. all the general elections, 
except the presidential in November, were held 
on the first ^londay in August). Earl Pierce 
was elected sheritt' for the sixth and last time, 
as before his term expired he "between two 
days" suddenly took a trip, and some other 
things, that ditl not belong to him to Texas. 
Pierce had been sheriff since 182ti. and was a 
specimen politician of the times. 

A frank, generous, rollicking manner, and an 
active, adroit, aspiring nature, long nmde pei-- 
haps the most popular and influential man of 
the county, biit constant office holding spoiled 
him. He was brigadier general of the state 
militia (cornstalk) as it was then termed, of 
which, the 37th Adams Gountv regiment was a 
part, otficered by Col. P. W. Martin. :\raj. Wm. 
G. Flood, Paymaster O. II. Browning, Adjutant 
Dr. S. 'W. Rogers, all of the Black Hawk war 
eminence. Thos. C. King was elected coroner, 
A. \Y. Shinn. Geo. Taylor and John B. Young 
were county commissioners. Xo other change 
was made in the other county officers; Wren, 
Snow and Frazier remaining in office. 

The legislative apportionment made at the 
session of 1835-6 entitled Adams county to one 
senator and two representatives, under which 
O. H. Browning was elected senator, and 
(ieorge Galbraith and J. H. Ral.ston representa- 
tives. Joseiih Duncan was governor: Wm. L. 
Hay representative, and John il. Robinson and 
W. L. D. Ewing senators in congress, the latter 
being succeeded by Judge Richard M. Young, 
who was chosen at the session of 1836-7 for the 
full term, being the fir.st member of either 
house of couu'ress from Quincy. 

Navigation opened ilai'ch 18th and continued 
good until about December 1st. Time, especially 
in port, was not economized as now. The 
Wyoming left Quincy on the evening of IMay 
l.st for St. Tiouis and got back on the evening 



S8 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADA^MS COUNTY. 



of the 4th. heiug uut .seventy-two and a lialf 
hours, claimed to be the quieke.st trip vet made. 
Two regidar packets, the Quincy and O'Connell, 
plied between St. Louis and the rapids. The 
river was vei'y high early in the season. Hooding 
the low lands and laying a fatal wet blanket 
over the prospects of many of the expectant 
cities which had been born from the speculative 
frenzy of the last two years and located in the 
bottom land. 

Jlarion City, or Green's landing as it had 
been known, ten miles below Quincy, and an- 
nounced as its future rival, where some $400.- 
000 were said to have been invested in lots in 
1835, was almost completely covered by the 
irreverent Mississippi and its inflated preten- 
sions hopelessly dissolved. 

Work was begun on the Quincy House and 
courthouse, both of which were fini.shed in 183S. 
Several other brick, among them the ^Methodist 
church, and a large number of frame buildings 
were erected, "averaging a new dwelling for a 
family, for every day between the tirst of April 
and the last of Aiigust," and it Avas estimated 
and recorded that over two hundred non-resi- 
dent )uechanics and laborers found here steady 
employment. Prices ran higher than in the 
previou.s year. Flour sold at !}*7.25. wheat 87 
cents, potatoes 40 to 50 cents, butter 20 cents, 
bacon I'iiA cents, beef $7.00 per hundred. 

Another hoped for county seat was laid off 
and advertised as the town of Lafayette, on 
the S. W. 14, 1 S. 7 W. at the real geographical 
centre of the eoiinty. (I think that this name 
should be Adamsburg, L. B.) The proprietor 
of the town was very liberal in his otters, pro- 
posing to give every other lot to the county, 
and also if it became the countj' seat to give 
half the balance of the land, and to the first 
merchant and first mechanic who should settle 
and build a house worth one hundred dollars 
any lot that he might choose. It was then and 
yet is a very good farm. 

The railroad movements of the preceding 
year In-ought about at the session of 1835-6 one 
of the first railroad charters granted in the 
state which blended afterward with the inter- 
nal improvement sy.stem, and is now the 
Wabash. Being a pioneer enterprise of its kind 
and containing some singular features, the char- 
ter is worthy of a summarized statement of its 
provisions. It empowers John Williams, James 
Bell, Wm. Carpenter and Wm. Craig, of 
Sangamon : John W. Murphy, Sanniel Mc- 
Roberts and G. W. Cassicly. of Vermilion : 
Matthew Stacy, James Tilton and J. J. Hardin, 
of Morgan, and J. T. Holmes, E. L. Pearson and 
J. W. McFaden, of Adams, "to construct a road 
from some point on the line between this state 



and Indiana, thence to Danville. Decatur, 
Springfield. Jacksonville. IMeredosia, ilt. Sterl- 
ing, Clayton and Quincy — provided they make 
ari-angements with a ccimpany already char- 
tered to make a road from Jacksonville to 
Meredosia." If they could not agree on terms 
Avith this intermediate incorporation "the .iudge 
of the Morgan court" should decide. The first 
named company, the "Wabash & ^Mississippi." 
not to build frcnn Jacksonville to ileredosia 
until tci-ms were arranged with the other com- 
pany. The company was required to expend 
$20,000 within four j'ears, or to operate within 
ten years, or forfeit the charter. The capital 
stock was fixed at $3,000,000, with the privilege 
of increasing the same to .$5,000,000. 

All the town lots in the original town of 
Quinc>" remaining unsold were offered at auc- 
tion by the comity commissioners, on April 11. 
The prices given are of relative intere.st and 
curiosity now. The north half of what is now 
the courthouse block, facing Broadway, sold 
for $541 : the north half of the block next on 
the west sold for $736: the two lots of block 
10, on Vennont street, between Fifth and the 
alley, facing the courthouse, brought better 
figures, $1,398 ; that part of block 11 on Fifth 
street facing Washington Square, excepting 
alxuit one hundred feet at the corner of Hamp- 
shire and one hundred feet in the middle, where 
the late courthouse stood, was st)ld for $11,657, 
being an average value of aboiit $58 per foot ; 
the ground on the east side of Sixth, between 
Vermont and Broadway, opposite the present 
court hoTise, was struck off at $488: lot 1, 
block 21. at the coi'ner of Jersey and Sixth, 
brought $200, while lots 6, 7 and 8, on the south 
side of the same block, were bought for $957 — 
about $3 per foot. Lots on York street, be- 
tween Second and Sixth, realized from $1 to 
$6 per foot — the last a high figure, the average 
being a little over $2. This section contained 
at that time the most desirable selections for 
residence lots. Lot 1, block 26, at the corner 
of York, sold for $450. 

Property at private sale changed hands often 
some standing improvements. The first large 
aiul at rapidly rising rates. The liighe.st price 
previously paid for any piece of property in 
the town had been for the Quincy House cor- 
ner, being about $80 per foot, but this included 
sale above that figure was made in this year, 
being that of lot 7, block 8, on the north side 
of Hampshire, one hundred feet west of Fourth, 
at the rate of $100 per fi-ont foot. 

The sales above described as being made by 
the county commissioners were only of unim- 
proved property, and completed the transfer 
into private hands of all of the original town of 



I'AST AND IMx'KSKXT OK ADA.MS CorXTV 



59 



Quincy. except such as was reserved for public 
|)ur])oses. similar sales haviiifi been lieid t'l'om 
time to time since 1825. Almost all of this land 
was purchased by residents. 

• lohn ^'or(•k(' Sawyer, a pi'oniincnt ot'ticial 
fijiure in I he infancy of (^uiiicy. Inivini; been 
the first cii-cnit jud^e. and holdinu' the fii'st 
court in the county, in IS'J."), in Keyes" cabin 
on Front strt>et, died this year. .March l.'5tli. at 
\'andalia. lie was then th<' editor of the \'aii- 
dalia Atlvocate. He was lietter ednc;i1fd llian 
the average of the profe.ssion iu his time, and 
was an excellent lawyer, as with ])ei'haps a 
siniile cxce|)tion, have been all the judiies upon 
this circuit bench. 

•Indj^e Sawyer was legislated out of office two 
years after the formation of this county, aiul 
was succeeded in 1827 by Samuel L). Lockwood. 
one of the purest and clearest minded men that 
ever adoi'iied the bench. In 1831 an additional 
circuit wiis made, compi-ised almost eiitirely of 
the ^Military Tract. To this IJichard 'SI. Youui;' 
was appointed and sustained the oftice with 
dignity and credit until his election to the 
United States senate, which took place this 
.vear. As before stated, up to this period, the 
Adams count.v bench had lieen excei)tioiudlv 
well tilled. 

A discord;int public question brolce ont about 
this time, and several years elapsed before its 
final settlement. It Avas as to where the mar- 
k'et should be located. A jjortion of the com- 
lunnity had been accu.stomed and wished still to 
see buildings, such as courthouse, market house, 
etc., built on the public grounds and the 
ground to be left unenclosed, while another 
portion desired to have such grounds, as far as 
practicable, enclosed for park i)Ui'poses, and 
that public buildings should lie erected else- 
where. 'J'his sti'uggle had been uuule over the 
courthouse location the year before. That be- 
ing decided, it no\v came up ovei' the market 
house. It was at one time concluded to double 
the width of Jlaine street east of Fifth, and 
half way to Sixth, and Iniild the market house 
thei-ein. This project of course, fell thr(uigh. 
but the contest was kept up. to be told more of 
hereafter. 

There also now aw(d\c the aspii'ation to be- 
come a cit.v, a natural notion iu a growing 
town, no matter how young the town may be. 
This is a feeling that is fosteretl by many in- 
terests, but it is a (piestion of serious doubt 
whether many of the little cities which throng 
the state, instead of being what they are now, 
with a form of government entailing increased 
expense. p(ditical strife and all its bad conse- 
quences, woidd not have been bcnctited by a 



longer adherence to the town system, which is 
the simplest, fairest, though not always the 
strongest system for corporate rule. It is also 
the equalized and consistent basis of our gen- 
eral iiistitutions. It was four years later that 
(^uincy became a city, and it was luidonhtedly 
needful tliat it slioidd do so. 

The Hounty Land Register, still the only 
paper in the i)lace. was purchased in Jidy by 
John II. Petit, and took the additional name 
of Argus. The year following this, it became 
the Quincy Argus, and a few years later the 
lleiald, its present title. It was now slightly 
enlarged, having five 2i/i;-inch, in.stead of four 
:i-inch columns, as before — on nearly the same 
sized sheet 211/^x14, but with a gain of read- 
ing matter of an inch on the top and half an 
inch on the side margin. The color and textiu-e 
of the paper and style of tyi)e were unchanged, 
and such as are never seen nowailays. It now 
assumed M-hat it had not during its ownership 
by ^Ir. Woods, a decided and avowed position 
as a denu)cratic .journal, which, under its va- 
rious names, it has alwavs maintained. 



CIIAI'TER XIV. 

BANKS AND BANKING IN QUINCT. 

The opening lu'anch of the State Hank of Illi- 
nois diu-ing this year was the commencement of 
banking in Quiney. The brief story of this 
institution will be hereafter told, but a skeleton 
sketch of the Illinois banking abortions prior 
to this period will not be ami.ss here, since it 
will show the tinaiicial movements and mone.v- 
less condition of the state generally, in which 
Quiney of course had its share. 

There is a world of financial philosophy to 
be gathered from the baiddnu history of Illi- 
nois. 

A bank at Shawneetown was authorized liy 
the territorial legislature of 181tJ, and at the 
next session two others were ordered to be lo- 
cated at Kaskaskia and Edwai-dsville. These 
had a brief existence, and in three years' time 
suspended. In the meantime, however, their 
circtdation had been redundant. Profuse supply 
of money, kimwn to be wcnM bless, stimulated 
speculation of the wildest kind. Everybody 
was anxious to get and to i/ct clear of these 
"rag promises." ami the result was that when 
the collapse came in 1820 everybody owed 
everybody. The first state legislature in 1819, 



6o 



PAST AND PEESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



seeing the need of some financial action, but, 
understanding their business, less, if possible, 
than all legislatures generally do, chartered a 
bank with a capital of $2,000,000 to run for 
twenty-seven years, the cliarter. however, be- 
ing afilicted with so many absurd features, that 
although books were opened by law through- 
out the state, not a dollar of stock was sub- 
scribed. 

At the foUoAving session, 1820-1. the Illinois 
State Bank was established with a charter to 
run ten years and a capital of $500,000 based 
UI30U the credit of the state alone. This bank 
was born with some most extraordinary fea- 
tures, which readily foreshadowed its fate. It 
was in violation of the United States constitii- 
tion, its bills bearing two per cent annual in- 
terest, and being redeemable in ten years. Three 
hujidred thousand dollars in bills not above $20 
were ordered to be issued, loaned oiit on per- 
sonal security for amounts of $100, and secur- 
ity on real estate at double valuation for sums 
betAveen $100 and $1,000. Of course every- 
body borrowed and nobody ever thought of 
paying back the amount borrowed. This $300,- 
000 was all that was issued, tlie notes falling iu 
value almost immediately to twenty-five cents 
on the dollar, and the bank became so dis- 
credited that the subsequent legislatures did 
not dare to order the full circulation author- 
ized by the charter. With many other Aveakening 
elements in its organization, the bank stag- 
gered through its chartered existence of ten 
years, and Avhen in 1831, it Avas Avound up, it 
appeared that although only $300,000 had been 
issued, the loss to the state had been more than 
$500,000. 

The AA'iping out of this Avorthless circulation 
did not .still the popular call for more monej', 
and the legislature of 183-4-5 took hold of the 
question Avith commendable zeal, but Avitli 
.iudgment that slioAved but little gain from late 
experience. That the state needed financial leg- 
islation was evident, for Avhile the old bank 
issues had been cleared off by an inci-eased 
debt (the famous Wiggins loan of $100,- 
000, Avhich made such bitter acrimony, 
though it saved the state's credit), yet 
foreign rag paper took the place of our 
OAvn. In February. 1835, the Territorial 
Bank of ShaAvneetoAvn, AA-hich had been 
dead for tAveh-e years, Avas exhumed and an- 
other State Bank Avas chartered, Avith a capi- 
tal of $1,500,000 and alloAved an increase of 
$1,000,000 more. Six branches of this Avere 
authorized to be located AA'hereA'er and AA'hen 
as a requirement precedent, $250,000 had been 
locally subscribed. In April of that year some- 
Avhat more than half this sum Avas subscribed 



tOAvards the establishment of a branch at 
Quincy. At the special session of 1835-6 some 
changes in the laAV Avere made and there Avere 
more branch banks authorized. The pre-requis- 
ite conditions haA-ing been comiilied Avith, a 
branch bank Avas located in Quincy during the 
latter part of this current year, but it hardly 
Avas in complete operation until early iu the 
succeeding season. 

The life of this bank Avas very brief, since it 
suspended specie payments, as did almost all 
the banks in the country under the financial 
crash of 1837. The suspensions Avere legalized 
by the legislature, and, tAvo years later, in 
1839, still farther extended in time, and the 
State Bank and its branches continued a feeble 
existence until their general dissolution in 1842. 
For the first year and a half of its existence 
before suspension this branch bank Avas a valu- 
able aid to the business of the place, and Avas 
such also to a limited extent, hoAA'CA'er, after- 
Avard until it 'Svound up." The institiition Avas 
located on the southwest corner of Fourth and 
JIaiue, in the tAvo-story frame building "built 
by Peter Felt, and afterAvard OAvned and occu- 
pied by the Burns familA^ Joseph T. Holmes 
Avas its president, although as a branch bank 
its business Avas managed by the cashier, that 
prince of good felloAvs, most .jolly sportsman 
and finished gentlemen, Capt. E. J. Phillips. 
The clerks Avere, first, John Martin Holmes, 
the Avittiest man in the West, who, everybody 
that used to laugh in Quincy yet remembers, 
and Avlu)se brilliancies Avould fill A'olumes, after 
him C. B. Church, and later and lastly, Quincy 's 
late mayor, J. K. Webster, who came in 1840 
from Galena, Avhere he had been similarly em- 
]iloyed. and clerked until the bank closed. The 
record of this bank, like that of its prede- 
cessors, Avas a checkered one. Its stock at first 
stood at thirteen per cent premium, but a 
rapid decline Avithin tAvo years found its notes 
at from fifteen to twenty cents discount, and 
later scarcely quotable at all. Its business was 
broadly extended, and it Avas not until aboiit 
1870, nearly thirty years after its failure, that 
the settlement of its affairs Avas concluded. 

The banking history of Illinois contains a 
most instructive and suggestive lesson in its 
experiences from territorial times to the pres- 
ent, and its final record may be properly here 
giA-en, since like the general financial situation 
of the state Avas necessarily that of Quincj'. 
FolloAving the failure, before mentioned, of the 
state bank of 1835. after its three or four years 
of sickly existence, there came a dull decade of 
financial uncertainty and business depression. 
The poverty shifts of those days cannot be ap- 
pi'eciated now, especially by the modern shod- 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADA:\rS COUNTY. 



6i 



dyite, but as evei-ybody was poor, few felt the 
worse for it. Money, such as it was, was far 
from scarce. Tliereiii, indoecl lay a i;reat trouble. 
Illinois was flooded with issues of lianks from 
other states, many, indeed most of which, were 
of doubtful or unknown condition, and coun- 
terfeits were countless. So evident was the 
want for a steadier, safer money currency that 
the legislature in 1861 passed over the gover- 
nor's veto, the "free ])anking law," which, 
having' been subniittetl to the people, was ap- 
proved by a decided popular majority. Expe- 
rience had taught our legislative solons some 
wisdom, as was evideuceci in this law, which 
was a step in the right direction: a movement 
nearly up to the present stable system of a re- 
liable national circulation. Banks were legal- 
ized whose notes should be secured by the de- 
posit of United States or state stocks. Had 
the former only been allowed as securities, the 
present well-recognized principles would have 
been reached; that no lasting circulation can be 
created which will harmonize business, repre- 
sent values, inspire national confidence in its 
current stability and future redemption except 
that which is based on the national credit and 
to which the industry of the whole people 
stands pledged. Little matters it whether the 
paper so authorized and so seciu'ed floats under 
the name of "United States Bank Notes," 
"Sub-Treasury notes, ""National Bank notes," 
or "Greenbacks" — these all mean the same — 
a moneyed assurance guaranteed by the nation. 

Naturally enough it happened that most of 
the one hundred and ten banks, organized 
under the law of 1851, fortified their circulation 
by the deposit of Southern State Stocks, these 
rating the lowest in the market and being the 
easiest procured. They were, however, but a 
straw dependence, and with the too certain 
foreshadowings of the civil war all such securi- 
ties began to decline, and when finally twelve 
states seceeded, all these stocks waxed worth- 
less and of course, the banks went down. The 
loss, however, compared with previoiis bank 
failures, was relatively light, and fell upon in- 
dividuals and not on the state. The few banks 
that remained in 1863, those with their circu- 
lation based on T'nited States or Illinois stocks, 
generally became national banks under the pro- 
visions of the law of Congi-ess of that year. The 
preceding is a scant but correct sketch of early 
monetary conditions in Illinois and Quiney as 
well. 

Resuming the local banking record and 
bringing it down to the present, it appears that 
the death of the State Bank of 1835 suspended 
all banking operations in Quiney for ten or 
more vears. 



Subsecjuent business of this character has 
been conducted by private parties. Business 
here and generally in tlie state, for several suc- 
ceeding years, was very light, especially such 
as would naturally dejjcnd upon banking con- 
veziiences. These were "hard times," dull, 
slow times, and yet endurable and not unen- 
joyable, pei'haps the more enjoyable from the 
cleprivations. Auditor's warrants, county orders, 
city scrip (almost the oidy monej'cd material 
with which state, county or city could jiay their 
way along, and the only paper that had a seem- 
ingly sure value) were at a vexatiously varying 
discount, passing at ten, twenty or thirty per 
cent below their face value and of course the 
public "paid the loss." Peojile worked and 
lived, but all business beyond home living and 
labor was greatly cramped. The mercantile 
need for exchange with which to remit eastern 
payments was embarrassing, though this was 
largely relieved by the land agencies. Most (it 
might almost be said all) of the unsettled land 
in Illinois, not still held by the general govern- 
ment, belonged to non-residents who paid their 
annual taxes through these Quiney agencies, 
and their checks on eastern banks, or authority 
given the agents to draw upon them for the 
amount of their taxes afforded an exchange 
facility to Quiney merchants such as other sec- 
tions of the stat<> did not possess. 

The later and continuous record of Quiney 
banking begins with 1850 when Flagg & Savage 
opened their baiddng house on the south side 
of ilaine, about four buildings west of Fifth, 
removing in 1857 to the corner of Fifth and 
Maine. These two, Newton Flagg and Charles 
A. Savage, with whom was associated I. 0. 
Woodruff, who became a partner in 1857, were 
the pioneer bankers of Quiney. For some time 
previous Mr. Flagg anci Lorenzo and Charles 
II. Bull had dealt in exchange, the former 
through Page & Bacon and the latter through 
Clarke & Brothei-s, bankers of St. Louis, luit the 
above was the earliest regular banking house. 
Its business immediately became large and lu- 
crative. It suspended in the fall of 1857, re- 
opened a few months after, and the next year 
finally failed. Later in this same year (1850) 
Jonathan II. Smith and A. C. ^Marsh started, 
under the Quiney house, a bank styled the 
"Fai-mers and Merchants' Exchange Co." It 
discontinued within less than two years' time. 
About 1853 Ebenezer iMoore. J. R. Ilollowbush 
and E. F. Ilott'man began business as ^loore, 
Ilollowbush & Co. Their location was on the 
north side of the public square, about midway 
in the block. This house, like that of F. & S., 
went down in 1857, both failures being mainly 
caused bv the failure of S. & W. B. Thayer's 



62 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



distillery and mercantile business, which was 
then the most extensive business of the place. 
The "Bank of Quincy," owned by J. R. Matte- 
son and D. Boon, opened in 1856, at the south- 
west corner of the square under the Quincy 
house, continuing business there for four or 
five years. 

In 1857 was started the Quincy Savings and 
In.surance Co., an incorporated institution, 
now the "First National Bank," which for 
three or four years was located at the north- 
west corner of Hampshire and Fifth, thence 
removed to its present place, on the northeast 
corner of Hampshire and Fourth. This is 
the oldest banking institution in the city. It 
became a National bank in 1865. This bank 
was consolidated with the State Savings Loan 
& Trust Company, which had been founded on 
the business of L. & C. H. Bull. Moore, Sher- 
man & Co.. — Ebenezer and F. C. Moore and S. 
C. Sherman — revived the old bank of Jlooi-e, 
Hollowbush & Co.. and for about two years 
transacted basiness at the same place in 1859- 
60. H. F. J. Richer began business in 1860 on 
the south side of Hampshire near Fifth, re- 
moving about six years since to his present 
place, one block west, where Moore, Hollow- 
bu.sh & Co., had formerly been. "John Wood 
& Son" commenced banking about 1862 at the 
southeast corner of ilaine and Fif1,li. Their 
business was transferred in 1864 to Flachs, 
Jansen & Co., who discontinued two years later. 
L. & C. H. Bull's bank was opened in 1861 at 
its present location on the corner of Maine 
and Fifth in the building first occupied by 
Flagg & Savage. E. J. Parker & Co., operated 
as bankers at the same corner from ISTi to 
1879, when the firm merged with that of L. & 
C. H. Bull. From 1866 there was connected 
with and owned by this firm, the "Farmers and 
Merchants' (2nd National) Bank," which dis- 
continued in 1872. T. T. Woodruff for some 
two years, about 1869-70. did a banking busi- 
ness on the west side of the public square, 
where also in 1875 the "German American 
Bank," an incorporated institution, opened and 
operated for about two years. In 1869 the 
TTniou Bank (chaz-tered) commenced on the 
east side of Washington Square, removing in 
1875 to the corner of Fifth and Hampshire; the 
building which it had left, being again oc- 
cupied as a bank from 1876 to 1879 by Henry 
Geise. 

The foregoing list comprises all the banking 
institutions of Quincy throughout the past 
thirty-five years. The business of some of 
them has been very large. Of those that have 
gone out of existence but two can be said to 
have failed. The others were discontinued. 



with their aft'airs evenlj^ wound up. The 
average annual deposits in the four banking 
institutions in operation at this time (1883) 
is about -$2,500,000, which will affoi'd some 
idea of the general business of the city. 



CHAPTER XV. 



1837-8. 

DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS ORGAN- 
IZE. PERSECUTION OF DR. NELSON. THE 
ABOLITIONISTS. 

About this period commences the religious 
denominational historj' of Quincj^ The dif- 
ferent elements of protestant belief which from 
numerical feebleness, had for the past five 
or six j'ears united in the one church, "God's 
Barn," on Fourth street between ilaine and 
Jersey, began gradually to separate and form 
the several societies which now represent their 
religious creeds. 

This church, the Congregational, the first 
founded, was also for nearly a half a dozen 
years, the only place of regular worship, with 
a permanent pastorate and formal church or- 
ganization. It was founded December 4th, 
1830, by the Rev. Asa Turner, Jr., who con- 
tinued its pastor for about eight years, with 
the exception of a year's intermission in 1832, 
when the Rev. Mr. Hardy, officiated. Its first 
organization was as a Presbyterian church, and 
as such it continued until October 10th, 1833, 
when it was reorganized under the Congrega- 
tional system, the reason for this change prob- 
ably having been the diversity of creed among 
its members who could more easily liai-monize 
under the Congregational form of government 
than any other. 

When foiuided in 1830 it had fifteen nieni- 
bers, four of them Presbyterians, three Con- 
gregationalists, three Baptists, and five "from 
the world" which probably meant of miscel- 
laneous beliefs. During the next eighteen 
months the membership ran up to thirty-nine. 
These figures declined in 1832 to thirty-three 
members. This was the most depressing year 
in every way that Quincy ever knew : the 
Indian war anxieties, the decimating diseases 
of fever and cholera having a prostrating effect 
upon every interest and the church suffered as 
well as the rest. Out of a population of about 
300 in 1833, 33 died of cholera alone, all within 
a few days after the first outbreak. During 
the latter part of 1833, and throughout 1834 
and 1835, the membership steadily increased, 



PAST AM) 1'];KSH.\T OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



63 



aumunt iiii: a1 tlii» lic^iiiiiiiiLr nl' lS:5(j to otie 
liiiiuli-ed and sixty-eij>:lit. These fiyiu'es indi- 
cate the propoi'tion of reliiiious sentiment and 
intiueTiee during- the six years following after 
1830. and .some idea of what was the social 
condition of the i)lace. It should be remem- 
bered, liowever. that (|uite a i)ro))ortion of the 
eliureh membershi]) and attendance was from 
outside the town. Ill is:!.') the Jlethodist 
church l)eiiifi the secMHid in tiie j)lace, was 
orsranized, in 1835, the Baptisi : lollowed in 1837 
b.v the Episcopal, and by the rnitarian and 
Presbytei-ian in 18-tl). all of them havinji' had 
oi'iuinally more or less of association with the 
early church in 1830. 

An event occurred in the early part of tliis 
year, which, though entirely local in its per- 
sonal relations, assumed, from the principle in- 
volved, a matter of national interest, and be- 
came historic. It was one of the incipient 
shadowing's of that fierce war cloud which 
broke upon the nation, twenty-five years later, 
leaving it with human slavery swept away; 
this being the one redeeming feature amidst 
the debt and death and desolation that its 
madness had made. The issues involved were 
freedom of speech, the sacredness of law and 
its protection to person ; rights which now 
stand supreme throughout the nation, and that 
then reigned undispr.ted in all cases except 
where .slavery was concerned. 

The state of ]\Iissouri. opposite Qiiincy. was 
slaveholding, and had been settled, largely 
fi'om Kentucky, mucli earliei' than the land on 
the Illinois siile. Slaves could easily escai)e 
from I\Iis.sonri. but the chief means of prevent- 
ing them from doing so was the willingness 
of the population in Illinois to aid in return- 
ing tliose who were fugitive. 

With the feeling on one side of the river 
that the slavery cpiestion must not be dis- 
cu.ssed, that whoever s])oke of if condemningly 
was dangerous to society, and that the prop- 
erty rights which they held at lioine. should 
be efpially i-espeeted everywhere; and the feel- 
ing on the east side of the river that men 
nught say what they pleased, tliat slavei-y was 
wrong and injurious, and must stay at home, 
and that whenever a black man got away 
from slave soil, and came under free laws, he 
became free, there had been gradually grow- 
ing a distrust between the neie-hboriim- sec- 
tions. 

Some time in ]\Iay of this yeai- two pei'sons 
resident in ^farion county, a few miles west of 
Quiney, Garrett and Williams, Avere found to 
have in their possession some anti-slavery 
papers, pamphlets and periodicals said to be 
of a very "inflammatory" character, though 



what they were was not state<l. These papers 
were seized and burned and the parties with 
their families ordered out of the state. A few- 
days later, on Sunday, the '22nd, at a camp 
meeting in the sanu' county, Dr, David Xelsoji, 
a resident clergyman jM-eached. Dr. Nelson was 
an exemphuy and able man. has left an emi- 
nent name. lie. though simple in many mat- 
ters as a child. |)laiii .iiid undistinguished in 
appearance, was a strong and original thinker. 

At the conclusion of his sei-mon a Mr. JIul- 
(Irow handed him a papei- with a re(piest that 
if shovdd be read. It was an article in ad- 
vocacy of the colonization scheme. Dr. Nelson 
was a southern nuiu and a coloinzationist, and 
while thinking this 1(j be injudicious and ill- 
timed, yet at his friend's request, he com- 
menced to read, when a Dr. l'>osely rose and 
ordered him to stop. Muldrow interposed and 
an altercation rose, during which Dr. Bosely 
was severely, and it was at tii-sf thought, 
fatally stabbed. Intense excitement followed. 
Nelson was accused ui' the assault and his life 
threatened. 

lie escaped on foot to (^)uiiicy. where he ar- 
rived in the night, wet aiul wearied, followed 
and almost caught at \\\r rivei- side by some 
excit(Hl and lawless i-oughs, who doubtless 
woiUd have given him harsli treatment had they 
captured him. On the following day a num- 
ber of persons from Quiney. with some from 
]\Iissouri, notified the friends of Dr. Nelson 
that he must be given uj). This was refused. 
There had been no legal claim made for him 
that he had committed no offense and he was 
protected. The deferminaf ion was shown that 
a demand for the surrender of a man innocent 
of any wrong should and would be. as it was, 
resisted. After a da\- or two of vaporing the 
excitement died away, anil although feeling 
still existed and sentiment on the slavery issue 
crysfalized itself info opposition, no outbreak 
or violation of law occuri-ed until the follow- 
ing year. 

There is a mistaken imi)ression that tlie 
"Nelson riots," as they were termed, occurred 
at the time of Dr. Nelson's exodus i'vnm ^lis- 
souri. This is not so. 

The first excitement, in 183(;. was when ^lis- 
sourians and others strove to fake Dr. Nelson 
prisoner. The second, 1837. was when a por- 
tion of the Quiney people tried to jnit down 
free discussion on the slavery (|uesfion. These 
two events, though connected in sentiment, are 
distinct in jjoint of time and in (|uestion at 
issue, and Dr. Nelson had no especial connec- 
tion with the threatened lawlessness in 1837. 

An event occurred during the latter part of 
this vear which created an intense excitement. 



64 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



and gave a decided influence in shaping the 
future sentiments and cliaracter of the place 
and has since been looked back to as an epoch 
in its early history. It was what is often mis- 
takenly spoken of as the Nelson riots, being 
erroneously associated in date with the flight 
of Dr. Nelson from Missouri and the attempts 
to kidnap him, which occurred during the pre- 
ceding year. 

The error is somewhat natural, since the 
same causes operated in both cases. It was 
the feeling in regard to slavery which was 
stirring the nation generally, and especially 
along the borders of the free and slave states, 
resulting in the killing of Lovejoy at Alton, 
and the destruction of his newspaper and other 
lawless and violent acts. 

Anti-slavery or abolition societies were or- 
ganized in many of the northern cities, and 
their formation was almost invariably at- 
tended wtili excitement and often with 
violence. Such a society had been organized 
in Quincy. Several meetings had been held 
and a good deal of feeling aroused upon the 
subject. 

The abolitionists here were feAv in number, 
but a very decided class of men. A very large 
portion of the people were anti-slavery men, 
but who did not agree with the abolitionists as 
to their manner of action. When, however, an- 
other large element of the population, com- 
posed of men indifferent to or favorable to- 
wards slavery, and strongly hostile to aboli- 
tionism and personally so to its advocates, and 
who regarded the discussion of the subject as 
hateful, gave out that there should be no 
meetings held and that these anti-slavery soci- 
eties should be broken up, the better class of 
citizens united with the abolitionists in the de- 
termination to vindicate the freedom of speech 
at all hazards. Organization was completely 
made; arms of all kinds were procured, from 
the muisket and shot gun to the hatchet and 
club. These were carefully stored where they 
could be readily used, under the pulpit of the 
"God's Barn." Watch by day and night was 
constantly kept by both parties. So closely 
were the chances counted that a committee 
from each of the opposing forces passed a night 
on the river bank, waiting, so as to first secure 
the services of one influential and very effective 
man who had been absent at Galena. It was 
Capt. N. Pease, a noted eai'ly settler, who died 
a year or two after. The free-speech men nat- 
urally got him. 

The anti-abolitionists who had held several 
public meetings denouncing the formation of 
anti-slavery societies and the discussion of 
slavery as a "political and social firebrand," 



etc., finally gave out word that a meeting which 
had been called to be held in the Congrega- 
tional church, the old "God's Barn," under the 
pulpit of which had been secreted a portion of 
the weapons prepared for defense — should not 
be held and that they would break it up. With 
this idea and its threatened intention circulars 
were sent out through the county to call in the 
attendance of their sympathizers to help clean 
out the abolitionists. At this meeting two 
clergymen, Mr. Fisher and Mr. Borien, men 
somewhat locally noted for ability and in- 
fluence, were to speak, attracting of course a 
more than usual interest. It was for this reason 
that the meeting became the occasion ot a strug- 
gle. 

The representative men among the abolition- 
ists were some still well remembered parties, 
Willard Keyes, Rufus Brown, Deacon Kimball, 
Dr. Eels, and a few others not needful to name. 
Sustaining them in the determination that free- 
dom of speech should be pi'oteeted were John 
Wood, N. Pease, Lloyd Morton, J. T. Holmes, 
H. Snow, Dr. Ralston and scores of others who 
were not abolitionists, but were rock-based 
friends of free discussion. 

On the other side it is needless to name those 
who, from political prejudice, or love of rowdy- 
ism, sought to lead on the bad elements of law- 
lessness. They are noAV mostly dead, and those 
who live are ashamed of, and disapprove, the ac- 
tions of that time. The moral force of the 
community was gathered in for the protection 
of "God's Barn." In numbers they may have 
been inferior. Parties from Missouri and the 
county came in. The meeting was held at the 
church, well protected. Some brick-bats were 
thrown, a few yells heard, a demonstration was 
made by the church guardians, there was a 
scattering of the attacking crowd, and a not 
small and amusing number of notables were 
found hiding in alleys and fence corners, all of 
them next clay hoping that nothing would be 
known about the affair. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
1839. 

PROGRESS. LAST TEAR OF TOWN GOVERNMENT. 
HAMPSHIRE MADE PASSABLE FROM STH TO 
12TH STREET. FIRE ENGINE PURCHASED AND 
CISTERNS BUILT. THE LICENSE QUESTION. 
THE FIRST MAC.A-DAM. THE CITY CH.\RTER 
GRANTED. MORMONS. POLITICS. 

Although "hard times" held on unabated, 
with not the .slightest sign of softening during 
the year 1839, money, scarce and scarcely to be 



I'AST AND rHESENT OF ADA^MS COUNTY. 



65 



obtained, and even when seenred, at a sliyloek 
shave — all the banks of the eonntry, except 
some half-dozen, having "snspended specie 
payments," and their paper, of course, a dis- 
countable (pumtity in trade; l)usiness neces- 
sarily ruiuiinu' lii;ht. values low and uncertain; 
l)r()duc('i-s iinding it to be safer to try and con- 
sume, thus utilizing their staples, than to sell 
otit' at skeleton figures — with all these draw- 
backs Qniney steadily jirogressed in popula- 
tion and improved in apiieai-ancc, owing' inti- 
nitely less to its people than it did to its nat- 
ural situation and advantages. The winter of 
1S;5S-!) had been unusually mild, and the health 
of the place in consequence diii'iiig these two 
years was exceptionally gooil. The number 
of deaths in 1838 was, according to an estimate 
made with probable correctness, one hundred, 
and during the first eight months of 1839, 
counted from the same estimate, forty-eight. 
This, nearly correct schedule, while not so 
favorable a record as compared with the mor- 
tality tables of later times, was a decided im- 
provement on the showing of the five or six 
yeai's ])recediug. With assured health business 
|)ros|)(>red in a corresponding degree and all 
the interests of the town surely and regularly 
rose. 

Weather also favored. The river opened as 
early as January 17th and though iced up for 
a few days abo\it the 17th of February, con- 
tinued open until its final eUising oti the 21st 
of December. This was the longest term of 
navigation known for many years before or 
since, embarrassed only by a most unprece- 
dented low stage of water through the summer 
months. 

This was a verj- busy year with the town 
authorities, and it is due to say, as reference 
to records will prove, that this was, neverthe- 
less, a time when there fell upon the public 
guardians a grave weight of labor and respon.si- 
bility, and which was by them faithfully and 
judiciously attended to. It was known to be 
the last year of the town existence. A city 
was soon to be made, and the ])rei)a rations to 
be made for improvements of various kinds. 
To meet the rising needs, grades, culverts open- 
ing streets, ferry and fire questions were with 
their future importance most earnestly met 
and pi'ovided for. There is no city council for 
the whol(> forty-four years of city life, which 
could not take valuable lessons from the action 
of the last board of trustees of the Town of 
Quiney. who were neither influenced by polit- 
ical, selfish, sectarian, nor any pei'sonal inter- 
est in their actions for the general interests. 
The resiionsibilities resting upon these officials 
were greatly more comprehensive than ever 



before, demanding important attention, labor 
and time. As an evidence of this, the board 
at its first meeting in January, 1839, fixed the 
pay of the secretary at $150. For the several 
first years the services of the secretary had 
been gratuitous, aiul only in the year preced- 
ing (1S3S) had thei-e been made any allowance. 
Then •$50 was gi'anted. but now the gi-eatly in- 
creasing duties and woi'k of the board which 
called upon the secretary for so large a por- 
tion of his time made this remuneration proper, 
and a few months after this salary was ad- 
vanced by resolution of tlu^ board to $250, 
still a light pay foi- the services of such officer-s 
and of such clerical experts, as were I. 0. 
Woodruff and S. P. Church. A report de- 
manded by the board in the early part of the 
year, evidenced that the finances of the toAvu 
were in sound condition, there being a balance 
of $2,580.29 in the town treasury. 

The grading of llami)shire sti-eet to the river 
having been now done and i)aid for, movements 
were made for opening "either ilaine or Hamp- 
shire east from the square." Maine street then, 
at the intersection of Sixth, was crossed by a 
gully some twenty feet in depth which made it 
pi-actically impassable, and farther east from 
Eighth to Twelfth it was cut acro.ss by similar 
ravines and ridges. ITanipshire street east of 
Ninth was similarly broken and all of this 
ground was open. There was really no good 
fixed outlet fr(un the square towai'ds the east 
and north. 

The settled section of the town, considering 
its population, was not extensive, most of the 
improvements being along the river bank, or 
around the square and the streets nearly ad- 
joining thereto. The greater part of travel 
passed in and out on the level ridge of Hamp- 
shire street, diverging near Seventh street by 
a road running northeasterly across vacant 
ground to about the corner of Broadway and 
Twelfth. It appeared necessary, as one of the 
trustees expressed it, that, "as Ave now have a 
street made for the people to get to the town 
from the river, we ought to give them a way to 
get out to or in from the country." It was 
ordered that a Hampshire street should be made 
passable from Eighth to Twelfth, and several 
liundred dollars were appropriated from time 
to time for that purpose, but it was long be- 
fore the full benefit accrued from this work. 
The improvement of Maine street east was 
ignored for the present, but later in the year 
it was partially graded as far as Eighth sti'eet. 
]\rr. Redmond, whose name for the following 
forty years appears prominent in Quiney his- 
tory, was the contractor. This was his first 
public connection with the affairs of the city. 



66 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



Prom that time he probably superintended 
more work and had a more ready familiarity 
with the city grades and streets than any other 
man. Beyond this line the street long lay un- 
improved. From this it may be seen that east 
of Seventh and Eighth scarce anything that 
could be called settlement existed. It was a 
stretch of open, broken land, seamed by ravines 
and mostly covered with hazel bushes, having 
on it a few cabins and large corn fields. 

JMuch interest and action was taken abinit 
this time in regard to protection from tire. A 
purchase had been made the year before of 
ladders, buckets, etc., which led to the forma- 
tion of a hook and ladder company. An ordi- 
nance was passed requiring the removal of all 
piles of hay, straw, etc., from within fifty feet 
of any house, store or shop, and prohibiting 
the stacking of any such material within the 
limits of the town, except in "extraordinary 
cases and by special permission." Later in the 
year a fire engine was purchased at a cost of 
s|;l,124.58 ; an engine house built adjoining the 
courthouse on the north side, and a cistern con- 
structed in front of the same — the latter costing 
$546 and having a capacity of 300 hogsheads 
of water. Some of those improvements were 
not completed until early in the following year. 

This purchase of the engine was an event, 
and the company formed for it became an in- 
stitution. It was composed of most of the 
young men of that day. Wells, Bull, Morgan, 
"stone, McDade and other now (1886) "gray 
and reverend seniors," whose veteran muscles 
would scarce qualify them to make a creditable 
run with the machine as they did forty years 
ago to the town's admiration, were among its 
members. A fire engine then was as great a 
curiosity to the rural people of the west, as 
the first steamboat was to the Indians, and we 
believe that this engine was the first one 
brought into the state, unless Chicago was so 
provided earlier. 

The expense attending all this fell heavily 
upon the resources of the town, but it was a 
good investment. One hundred dollars of it 
was contributed by the Quincy Insurance com- 
pany, a home institution that went into opera- 
tion during this year. Its stockholders were 
all local men — D. G. "Whitney was president 
and S. P. Church secretary. Its business was 
never large and its existence of but few years' 
duration. 

Previous to this year the government of the 
town had been through its organization under 
the general incorporation laws of the state, but 
the act for a special charter, prepared by the 
trustees in November, 1838. passed the legisla- 
ture, and was approved February 21, 1839. 



This was a much needed azul well devised 
change ; the new charter vesting in the author- 
ities much more ample jxiwer than they had 
heretofore possessed. 

Pursuant to this law an election for seven 
trustees was held April 17, 1839, when E. Con- 
yers, Samuel Holmes. Robert Tillsou, Samuel 
Leech and I. O. Woodruft", and at a second 
election a few tlays later, John B. Young, were 
chosen. 

It will be seen from these names that jinlit- 
ical feeling at this period had no bearing, as in- 
deed, it never had, in the town elections. 

The board organized by the election of Mr. 
Holmes as president and Mr. Woodruff secre- 
tary. 

An excellent and c(un]n-ehensive series of 
ordinances was passed Avhich with some slight 
subsequent revision, cimtinued in operation 
until the next year, when almost unaltered, 
they were adopted as the ordinances of the 
new city. The tax on real estate was fixed at 
one and a lialf per cent, and a street tax of 
tliree dollars (per capita) or in lieu thereof 
three days" work on the streets, was imposed 
upon "every citizen entitled to vote for trus- 
tees,'' an obligation that promised a handsome 
addition to the needed revenue, but which then 
and since, has been rarely enforced. 

The public mind and the policies of the board 
were greatly exercised for many weeks l:)y the 
appearance for the first time in Quincy history 
of the prohibition "Banquo" in a shape similar 
to that which it now presents, and with the 
same zealous faculty for exciting public pas- 
sion and smashing political slates. Heretofore 
the lifpior trade had been only regarded in 
legislation as a proper and acciistomed source 
of revenue, and as such, subject to special tav- 
ern or grocery taxation. The moral or expe- 
dient features of the matter had never yet l)een 
officially considered. These now came before 
the board with the question of issuing grocerj' 
licenses for the year, and the record is amusing, 
both as l)eing the first c(uitest of the kind, and 
the prototype also of many subsequent efforts 
on the part of our authorities upon the same 
subject, in seeking the best wav "how not to 
do it." 

Three jietitions were presented to the ])oard 
on May 6th, against the issuing of any grocery 
license, one having 225 signers, who repre- 
sented themselves as "legal voters," a second 
with 40 names signed as "residents, not 
voters," and a third with 146 signatures of "la- 
dies." and the next week these were supple- 
mented by a petition of 280 names asking for 
license. All these petitions were referred to a 
committee for report. This committee reported 



i'AST AND i'UESENT OF AUA.M.S COUNTY. 



67 



llijit tlieiv had been at the last eh>eti(>ii 427 
\()te.s reeordod. that in eonipai-ing tliese peti- 
tions with the poll hooks, they found that of tlic 
22') names sif^-ned as licini;' l(>i:'ai voters in op- 
posilinn til licen.se. only 14.') ol' those iiaiiies 
coiihl be found on the poll boojis, that there 
were ninety-live names sisi'ned to the petition 
which were not on the poll books, and fifteen 
whieh eouhl not be read: that of the 280 names 
affixed to the petition fm- the jfrauting of li- 
eenses, only 12t) appeared on the pool hooj^s. 
that alioiil fifty names they eould not i-ead. and 
it was impossible to say i)ositively whieh peti- 
tion had the greater number of legal voters. 
iiiid the committee's suggestion that all the pe- 
titions be laid upon the table, was agreed to. 
The l)oard adopted a resolution that they could 
not find tliat a majority of the legal voters of 
(^uincy iiad opposed the issuance of grocei'y 
license, and licenses were thence issued ;vitii- 
out any more delay or question. 

The grocei'y or liipior license was fixed at 
.4^100 j)er annum, and the license for general 
merchandise at three-fourths of one per cent 
on the value of the stock. There were, ac- 
cording to an examination made October 9th, 
forty-five stt)res of all sorts transacting busi- 
ness in the town. ]\Iuch was done during this 
year in tlu' nuitter of establishing the grades, 
with a regard to an extended and permanent 
.system. In addition to the opening and grad- 
ing of many of the central and most important 
streets, the first maeadamizing work was now 
done, it being a .strip of twenty-five feet in 
width, down the centre of Ilamp.shire street, 
from Third to Front, leaving the sides of the 
s1i-eet so "that the wash from the rains might 
carry the dirt from the baid^s down to the 
riv(>i'.'" This strip of macadam was for sonn 
time the oidy work of the kind in town. 

.Mr. Redmond again appears as the first con- 
tiactoi' for macadamizing, the price given be- 
ing i|>3.62t/o per running foot ami ^\.i)0 extra 
for curbing. Still more eari'ful legislation was 
had in reference to the pi'evention of fires, and 
the office of Fire Warden was created. Edwai'd 
Wells being the first appointee. This office was 
continued for a ninnber of years. 

Stringent ordinances were passed re(iuii'ing 
gi-oeeries to be closed on Sunday and prohibit- 
ing "loud talking." etc.. that might disturb 
I'cligious congregations on that day. with se- 
vere penalties for their violation. 

Looking with natural ambition and proper 
.iudgiiHMit to the necessity of soon becoming a 
city, the trustees, late in XovcMnber. appointed 
Sannnd Holmes, (ienei-al Leech and .1. L. Joints 
a conmiittee to examine the city charters of 
Alton, (,'lueago and St. Louis, and to draft a 



city charter foi- (^nincy. the same to be sub- 
mitted to the board and if then approved, to 
be presented to a meeting of the citizens and 
if appi-oved likewise liy them a copy to be sent 
to the legislature at tlii' special session. A 
special session of the geuei-al iissembly had 
been calletl to meet on the !lth of December. 
The charter as pre])ared was presented to the 
trustees and approved on the 30th of Novem- 
ber, and on the following week was approved 
by the citizens, some slight alterations being 
nnide. 

Hut although a city charter had been pre- 
pared and approved both by the boai'd and the 
people, all was not yet smooth sailing. Faction 
had still its part to play, and there were now 
stirred up the same elements whieh, existing 
then, today and forever, did. do and always 
will, thrust themselves into the \an of every 
public movement, and either destroy the meas- 
ure by reason of the disgust which their asso- 
ciation creates, or after being ignored in their 
wished for prominence, seek to annoy and em- 
barrass its success. 

The story is almost ludicrous. At a meeting 
held on the 13th of December, by the malcon- 
tents, it was resolved that the i)rin)osed charter 
was "anti-republican in its features, oppressive 
in its tendencies and premature in its object and 
design." A protest Avas made to the legislature 
against its adoi)tion, uidess it should "be first 
shorn of its anti-reptiblican features, to-wit — 
Fii'st, a property (inalificatior: to the right of 
holding office. Second, imconstitutional restric- 
tion on the right of suffrage. Third, exorbitant 
l)ower in the council to control and alf'ect (?) 
the interest of the people in relation to ferries." 
etc. 

The trustees were gi'eatly exei'cised by the ru- 
mored action of this meeting. <ind a])pointed 
a conmiittee to call u|)on the secretary and ob- 
tain a copy of the I'esolutions. This eonunit- 
tee. after much delay. rei)oi-ted that the sec- 
retary had twice refused to give them a copy, 
but that aftei' calling upon him a third time 
tht>y obtained what they desired "by offer and 
payment of two-bits." Thereupon the tru.stees 
resolved that "in the opii;ion of this board the 
proceedings of the meeting are disi-espectful to 
this body, both in the getting up i-esolutions. 
as two previous meetings of the citizens had 
sanctioned the actions of tlu> board (with some 
minor amendments) among whom were some 
of the main leaders and officei's of the la.st meet- 
ing." 

This amusing account of the struggle over 
the chai'tei' coiu-ludes the record of op]iosition 
to the city (U-ganizati(ui. The charter became 
a law during the current winter, without op- 



68 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAJIS COUNTY. 



position iu the legislature, and was almost 
unanimously i-atified by the people in the fol- 
lowing :Mardi (1840). 

A financial report covering the period from 
July 1, 1838, to April 15, 1839, the time when 
the second town charter went into operation, 
showed the expenses to have been $3,460.38, and 
the receipts $4,338.76. 

Thirty steamboats arrived during the last 
ten days of April. A number of new business 
enterprises were begun. Whipple and Wycke 
started a woolen mill, ju.st north of the town 
on M'hat is now Cedar creek, and Bond, Morgan 
& Co.. a bakery, these two being the earliest 
to any extent iu the town. 

Skillman's circulating lilu'ary was cdin- 
menced in connection with his liook store. 

The slavery question was still an issue. An 
anti-slavery and a Colonization society were 
formed. 

Several large meetings were held to consider 
the Mormon nuitter. at which strong sympathy 
was expressed for them, and a denunciation of 
the conduct of the ^lissourians, a sentiment 
which, a few years later greatly changed. 

This ilormon immigration, which had so sud- 
denly commenced in 1838, continued during the 
early part of this year, but later in the year it 
began to flow away towards their new pur- 
chase at Naiivoo, and before the next Avinter 
had set in most of these strange people had left 
the city. The story of their persecution had 
given an impetus to their proselytism, and be- 
side those who came from Missoiu'i and the 
eastern states, there were large foreign acees- 
.sions. 

These last, like the others, naturally came to 
Quincy. where Joe Smith, their prophet, tem- 
porarily resided. Early in April, of this year. 
Smith (who was a sort of town notoriety), with 
four other Mormons, fell into the hands of a 
party of ilissoiu'ians, who, under some form 
or pretext of legal process, were taking them 
to the Boone county jail. but. while on the 
route. Smith and his friends got away, leaving 
the guards all sound asleep. Smith heralded it 
forth that the "spii'it of the Lord had put 
blindness over his captors' eyes," biit the bet- 
ter believed story was that another sort of 
spirit had been temptingly applied to their lijjs. 
However this escape may have occurred, 
whether by a miracle or not, it was a most tell- 
ing card to be thus played for the benefit of the 
sect. The condition of these people was very 
deplorable at this time. They crowded together 
in the barns, outhouses and sheds and many in 
huts and tents throughout the town. Some of 
them were almost entirely destitute. They kept 
up their religious services and observances, and 



were for a time much more numerous than any 
other religious or ecclesiastical society, in the 
place. 

There were many varieties of religious organ- 
izations here, but as yet, very few church struc- 
tures. Until this year the old Congregational 
"God's barn," on Foui'th, was the only finished 
church. During this year, however, the Baptist 
rluu-ch on Fourth also, north of Hampshire, 
and the old Jlethodist church, on Vermont 
south of the courthouse, was nearly finished. 
Also the Episcopalians finished and occupied 
their first church, a little long frame building 
on Sixth, north of Hampshire, which they occu- 
pied for many years. 

Relative to this, as showing how much it 
then cost both to build a ehiu'ch and to attend 
church, we learn that Bishop Chase, then the 
Bishoj) of Illinois, writes that he found in 
Quincy a neat, small Episcopal church, erected 
at a cost of $400, and that all the pews were 
taken at a total rental of $200. The good Bishop 
in the same letter says that he passed through 
tlie flourishing town of Columbus, where there 
was lieing built a railroad to each river, east 
and west, and being in the centre of Adams 
county, this place would, from these causes, 
become the county seat, an opinion which leaves 
to us the conclusion that he was much more to 
be relied upon as a prelate than a prophet. In 
Xovenfl.ier the first (merman Protestant church 
was dedicated. This is the brick building still 
standing on Seventh street, between York and 
Kentucky, which is at the present time the old- 
est church edifice in Quincy that is still used 
for religious purposes. 

Tlie election of Thomas Carlin in 1838 to the 
governorship of the state caused several 
changes among the political officials of Quincy 
and this section. Carlin, who had been receiver 
in the public land office, was succeeded on the 
8th of January, 1839, by Sanniel Leech, who 
had been Eegister, and on the same date, Wm. 
G. Flood, then member of the legislature, was 
made Register. These were then here and 
everywhere in the west very important offices. 
and it is a fact that through all the changes of 
political interest in the country, these land of- 
fices have been well filled, and especially were 
they so filled in this land district. The register 
had to record all applications for public lands, 
and the receiver to take and receipt for the 
money deposited to secure the applicant the 
patent and the future ownership of the land 
which he desired. 

It can be easily seen that with incompetent 
officials in charge of such trusts, how much of 
vexatious trouble might ensue, and with dis- 
honest and scheming men in control of tliese 



I'Asr AND L'KKSENT OF ADA.MS COLNTV. 



69 



oiYiees and iu-tiiig- toj^etlu'r, how pluinply lliey 
eotild i)ad tlu'ir own pockets and del'i'aud tlie 
applicants for land, by knowing as they must 
and did know from having the surveys iu their 
own possession, the chunicter and estimate 
value of unentered lands. 

It was fortunate that the holders of Ihese of- 
fices in the hountx' land district were men 
equally of capacity and integrity, and it is well 
known also that after this land district, which, 
for fifteen years from its establisliment was the 
most important one in the state, was abolished, 
because most of the ])ublic laud within its lim- 
its had been sold or given to the state as 
"swamp lands." the transferred records 
showed a ilcarer face and less has come np 
again.st them for re-examination than any other 
of the old land districts of the state. There 
was a notahli' line <it ti'ustworthy men who oc- 
cu)iied these ol'lices and faithfully tilled their 
trusts — Carlin. Alexander. Leech. Flood. Sulli- 
van. Asbiiry. Rogers. Holmes. ]Marsh and 
Hauser were successively in charge until about 
1859 or 1860, when the offices were transferred 
to Spi'ingfield. 

The vacancy iu the legislature, caused by 
Flood's appointment as I'egister. was tilled at a 
special election in Xovend)er by Richard W. 
Starr, whig, who was chosen over Jacob Smith, 
democrat, by a nuijority of 100 in the county. 
There were 646 votes cast in the town at this 
election, while at the regidar election in xVngust 
preceding-, there were 671. from which some es- 
timate may be made of the probable population. 

The political figures show that the whig 
ticket was succe.ssful iu the town at this August 
(>lection. Ebenezer Jloore — who the next and 
tlie then following year was chosen as the first 
mayor of Quincy, a very excellent business man 
and a lawyer of moderate ability: Henry As- 
liury. now (1886) living and known Id cxciy 
(iiu^ in Qiiincy : J. R. Randolph, an old-tinic 
lawyer of the town who might have been one 
of the first had he not been too lazy and who is 
now a judge in Rhode Island, and Charles Mc- 
Kee (all whigs) wei-e elected as magistrates. 
This was the first real jiolitical issue that had 
been brought forward to te.st the relative 
sti-ength of parties in the town, and it fore- 
shadowed a decided predominance of power 
resting with the whigs, which they secured the 
next year at tlie first city election and for sev- 
eral years after, whenever they ])i'operly ex- 
ei'ted themselves. 

The entire vote of the county, including that 
of the town, was 1,742, a falling off of 300 from 
the vote given at the regular election the yeai' 
before, and this year's vote was most curiously 
cnt np and distributed. For instance. Wm. 



Richards, democrat, was eli^cled county eoni- 
mi.ssioner by 3!}8 nui.jority, over J. H. Driskell, 
whig; while Andrew .Millei-, whig, beat J. D. 
Morgan, democrat, for county .judge, 436 votes, 
and again J. H. Helton and Enoch Conyers, 
democratic candidates respectively, for record- 
er and treasurer, were elected, the first by 130 
and the second by 269 majority over their whig 
opponents and again J. Williams, the whig 
candidate for county surveyor, ran in by a ma- 
jority of 5.5, over a much more skilled man on 
the opposite ticket. 

This was an evidence nut infrequent iu those 
days, but more rare in latter times, of indili'er- 
ence to partisan lines, and of how much more 
personal merit or popularity than party domi- 
nation controlled local elections. 

-J. H. Ralston, having resigned the office of 
circuit judge in August, the governor appointed 
Peter Lott as his successor, which appointment 
was ratified by the legislature in December. 
Lott made a most satisfactory judge during the 
short time that he was on the bench. AVhile 
somewhat too indolent and pleasure loving to 
be a deeply learned lawyer, he had singularly 
strong common sense, a very ready and candid 
intellect and much dignity and courtesy of man- 
ner. He was legislated out of office iu Feb- 
ruary, 1841, by the law Avhich made five addi- 
tional supreme judges, and imposed upon these 
nine judges circuit duty, and repealed out of 
office the 'then circuit judges. Judge Lott's 
place on the bench of this circuit was taken by 
Stephen A. Douglas. 

The innnigration to (,^uinc\- was relatively not 
as large as during the few preceding years, so 
far as it numbers the names of men Avho iu the 
])ast have been prominent and are now remem- 
bered. Among these were D. W. ^Miller, E. K. 
Stone. Robert McComb. C. A. Savage. N. Pink- 
liani. A. Wheat. P. A. (ioodwin. H. S. Cooley, 
all familiar names to Quincy history. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
1837. 

POI.ITICAL. THE TWO WELLS AND THE MARKET 
HOUSE. PURCHASE OF MADISON PARK. ES- 
TABLISHMENT OF STREET GR-^DES. FIXING 
THE "DATUM." PUBLIC LIBR.^RY STARTED. 
ROLL C.\LL OF NEWC^HMERS. FIRE DEPART- 
MENT. GRADING HAMPSHIRE STREET. COUN- 
TY LAND REGISTER. QUINCY WHIG. QUINCY 
"GRAYS." R.\ILRO.AD WORK. QUINCY FINANCES. 
FIRST BOOK STORE. PRIVATE SCHOOLS. 

Few changes occurred during the year 1837 
affecting the political representation of Quiney. 
The national, state and local officials mostly re- 



70 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



maiued in their places. The exceptions being 
that J^^dge Richard M. Yonng. who had ac- 
cei^tably tilled the position of circuit judge for 
many years, having been elected to the U. S. 
Senate, was succeeded by J. H. Ralston. Judge 
Young was the first Quiney man i^romoted to 
a place in the national councils. He was a con- 
spicuous figure in our early local and state 
annals, having occupied more various important 
public trusts than any other Illiuoisian. Like 
his two predecessors. Sawyer and Lockwood, 
he was a lawyer of ability and learning, which 
his successor lacked. He was a Kentuckian by 
birth, early known in public life — having been 
the first practicing lawyer in the state, a mem- 
ber of the legislature in 1820. serving through 
several judicial terms, and always seciiring ]X)p- 
ular respect and confidence. His mental ciual- 
ities were solid; not brilliant, but his judgment 
was especially regarded and his personal in- 
tearity never questioned. Removing to Wash- 
ington he became clerk of the house of repre- 
sentatives and also commissioner of the general 
land office. His later years were sadly clouded 
and finally closed in insanity. His election in- 
duced some other official changes. Ralston 's 
vacancy in the legislature was filled by the elec- 
tion of Archibald Williams, and C. M. Woods 
was appointed circuit clerk in the place of H. 
H. Snow, who had occupied that office from 
the foundation of the county in 1825. Snow 
also in February was supplanted as probate 
judge, which he had been for the same length of 
time by Wni. G. Flood, and at a later period 
Earl Pierce, having personally and financially 
disappeared in the supposed direction of Texas, 
was succeeded as sheriff by Wm. H. Tandy, 
elected in November, for the unexpired term. 

The town proceedings grow in interest and 
importance. On the 20th of February the trus- 
tees adopted an elaborate revision of the town 
ordinances, rearranging the same and correct- 
ing former errors. Oddly enough, they ]iar- 
tially repeated a previous blunder by omitting 
in the first section (on limits) to give any 
boundary line on the west. This, however, was 
not so bad as the blunder in the ordinances of 
1824, where the boundaries were altogether 
omitted. It would almost appear that our old 
town Solons Avere either infected Avith the prev- 
alent pioneer j)rejudice against inclosures, or 
that they feared to confine the bursting aspira- 
tions of the budding young community. This 
error was corrected in a subsequent revision 
made in the following September, when a much 
broader and better revision of the ordinances 
was made, especially regarding taxation and 
revenue. Street improvements now began to be 
considei'ed. Commei'cial alley was opened, this 



being the first corporation movement, affecting 
permanently the original surveys. The small- 
pox being quite prevalent, a pest iiouse was es- 
tablished and the necessary sanitary regula- 
tions ordered. 

The tax assessment for this year was $1,- 
219.75, of which $475.11 was reported as col- 
lected by the middle of June. At the annual 
election in June. John Wood, W. P. Reeder, 
Joel Rice, J. T. Holmes and I. 0. Woodrutt' were 
chosen as trustees. Holmes became president, 
WiMuli-uff secretary, W. Williams treasurer, and 
John McDade collector. 

With this period began tlie trouble about the 
jiulilic wells and the location of the market, 
wliich were themes for town action and town 
talk for many an after month. The water ques- 
tion, which was comprehended in the project 
to have a couple of w^ells dug at the corners of 
the public square, is with its attendant strifes, 
an amusing affair to look back at lunx : but it 
was then a matter of as mucli relative import- 
ance and serious discord in public councils and 
private controver.sy as the water works ques- 
tion is to our good people today. A well had 
been ordered to be sunk at the northwest cor- 
ner of the square and a party had contracted 
to dig it. He began to dig and all the thii'sty 
souls adjacent with hopeful interest saw the 
well gradually sink, but the Avorknien also sank 
from sight ; work ceased, and water had not 
come. At the June meeting the board deter- 
mined to cui-b the independence of this well 
digger if they couldn't curb the well, and ap- 
jjoiiited a committee to "ascei'tain whether he 
intended to finish it or not." The committee 
reported that he said not. Another man was 
engaged, but the result was the same. He proved 
to be, though a well digger, not a well doer. 
The job was again thrown up. Finally, after 
a year's ti-avail, at the first meeting in January, 
18-'^8, it was ordered that the well be filled up 
and another dug at the southwest corner of the 
s(puire, which was done successfully. Other 
wells were made, Avhich remained for several 
years, latterly used chiefly as feline cemeteries. 

The market house question was a much more 
serious source of strife. A part of the com- 
munity wished to have the market house built 
on the ])ublic square. An equal or larger por- 
tion objected. After several meetings and 
much discussion it was ordered that Maine 
.street should be the place in which to erect a 
market house, that the street should be widened 
west of Sixth street, on the north side, as far 
as the alley, twenty-five feet, and on the south 
side "as nuu:-h as possible." This proposition, 
after several sessions of the board had acted 
and reacted, resulted in a report from the last 



I'AST AXD PKESENT OP ADAxMS COUNTY. 



71 



committee ;ii)])()iiitoil, at the ineeliiiy- on Deeeiii- 
bei- 3(ttli. tliJit they eoiikl not buy tlie land 
wanted (Ui Maine street, and sn ended tlie 
marlcel lioii.si' war for this year, wliile annlhei- 
committee eonsistinj;- of I. O. Woodnd'f and 
John Wood was appointed to worry over tlie 
([nestion during- the eoiiiini;- year, 

'i'he neudtiatiiins wliich liad been low^ pend 
iny in regard to having' a new burial ground 
were eoiieluded at the June meeting of tin; 
board by the purchase from E. H. Kim))all. at 
the rate of $7.") per acre, of the ,S r)(i-l()i) aei'es. 
now known as Matlison I'ark. at tiie soutiieast 
corner of IMaiiu' and Twenty-foui-tb streets. 
This grnund was platted and laid off in lots. 
valued at .$10 eaidi. The tirst sale was made 
October Idth. and (piite an amount was at once 
reali/.eil, nearly oiu' hundi-ed lots being bought. 
P^rom this date the old burial ground on the 
south half of the blocdv where the jtrc^sent court- 
house stands (Jefferson Park) which had been 
used since 1825. was abandoned, and the great- 
est portion of the bodies there interred were 
removed to the new cemetery. I\Iueli interest 
at first was taken in the new cemetery, partly 
from tlissatisfaction with the old one: but it- 
soon became evident that the new location was 
equally undesirable, the ground being too flat 
and wet. To remedy this, it was ordered that 
on three sides the cemetery should be sur- 
rounded by a ditch. Ten years later, when 
Woodland cemeteiy was laid out. on so much 
more beautiful and appropriate ground, inter- 
ments ceased at this Maine street cemetery, and 
most of the bodies bui'ied there were gradually 
transferr<'d to the "Woodland" — it being in 
many cases the second I'emoval. Still not a few 
lie on both of the old gi'(niiids. 

t'outract was made by the board with the 
Quincy Argus during the latter part of this 
.year to i)rint their proceedings for five dollars 
a year, (considering the fact that the Argus was 
the only paper piihlished in the place, and of 
course must have a monopoly of the jirices, this 
arrangement indicated either a marvelous 
streak of liberality <in the pi'inter's part — 
peculiarly difficult to appreciate nowaday.s — or 
showed that these proceedings were not con- 
sidered as amounting to mnch. At the meet- 
ing on September 4tli. the board established the 
grade of Hampshire street from the ])ublic 
square to the river, and therewith the grade 
of Front street. 

The order for the above is curiously worth 
publication, both because this was the first de- 
finite recorded movement towards a uniform 
system of grades, with an initial point, at the 
corner of Hampshire and Fourth, and also from 
the oddity of its hinuiuiiie and jiiovisions. Tt 



reads thus: " ( )r(iered. t hat the grade of Jlamp- 
shire street be (ixetl as follows: The summit 
at the coriH'i- of Hampshire and Fourth pai'allel 
with the tup iif the stone foundation at JMcssrs. 
Skinner and I'.erry's store, then descend on a 
grade of seven feet to Third sti'cet. then, on 
leaving Thii'd. to descend on a I'cgular grade 
ti] Front street, and terminate with the doorsill 
(il the warehouse of Mr. Holmes." 

What ".Mr. llnlmes"' is iiu'ant one cannot 
knciw. but as all the Mv. Holmes' of that dny 
ai'c <lead (and .Messrs. Skinner and Hei'ry also) 
and their houses have long since been desti'oyed, 
one must search here or elsewhere for a Holmes 
doorsill and a Skiniu-r and Heri-y fo\nidation 
to ascertain the ])recise gi'ade of Hampshire 
and Front. It is of course to be presumed that 
]\Ir. Holmes diil not elevate or lower his dcior- 
sill while the grading was going on. 

The population of the place was reported as 
l.ii.'):5 — a liberal estimate, not far out of the 
way, but from which ten per cent or more might 
safely be deducted. The courthouse on the east 
side of the square, midway between Maine and 
ITain])shii'e, was completed, but not fully oc- 
cupied until the following year: the fir.st C(nirt 
being held there in 1838. This was the brick 
building which was burned in 1875 — as was its 
log predecessor in 1836 — it being the second 
courthouse of the county: the present superb 
.stone structure wherein "justice is dispensed 
with" — as the wags express it — being the third. 
Talk was had about grading and enclosing the 
inililic square, but this was not done until three 
or four years later. 

The first German Ijutheran and the first 
Catholic (St. Boniface) churches were or- 
ganized during this year, also the first Epis- 
cojial church (St. John's) which for many years 
was on the east side of Sixth, between Ver- 
mont and Hampshire, later removed to the coi"- 
ner of Hampsbii-e and Seventh, now the Cathe- 
dral. 

A i)ublic library was instituted about this 
time, based chiefly on individual contributions 
of books. Its career was short: the reading 
taste of the town being nf)t yet sufficiently gen- 
eral to sustain it : and after it died, and the 
hooks — what were left of them — were returned 
to the original donors, no such permanent insti- 
tution existed until the ])resent Quincy Library 
was established in 1841. 

A nmvement towards the formation of a mili- 
tary company was agitated, resvdting as a suc- 
cess during this and the following year in the 
formation of the "Quincy Crays," a most model 
military oi'gani/.ation. which in its drill, jierfec- 
tion and esprit de corps, and attractive associa- 
tions, has never been excelled by any of the 



72 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



excellent Quiiiey eompanies of later times. 

During the winter of 1836-7 Anton Delabar 
bnilt the first Qnincy brewery on Fifth street, 
between York and Kentucky. It was destroyed 
by fire. It was for several years the onl.y 
brewery in the place. The branch bank of the 
State Bank of Illinois, was formally opened here 
on the 4tli of December, at the southwest corner 
of Maine and Fourth streets. 

This year, like the two preceding and two 
following' years, was an advent period for ' ' old 
settlers." We take tlie arbitrary dictum of 
calling those old settlers who settled here be- 
fore 1840, for the reason that of the living and 
remembered men of Quinc.y, wlio have seen and 
been part of its growth, an especially large pro- 
portion of them came here, young men, be- 
tween 1835 and 1810 — a few earlier than the 
former date — and there are now, or until lately 
were living, still vigorous after nearly half a 
century of active Quincy life and laden with the 
weight of years over three score and ten. A 
temporary line must somewhere be lain, and in 
ten or twenty years the ehalk mark may be 
moved forward to another decade. 

Among the well known old settlers who came 
this year were Nehemiah Bushuell, from Con- 
necticut, who steadily grew in legal recogni- 
tion, to be considered at the time of his death 
in 1873, as the most erudite lawyer of the state, 
and Andrew Johnston, of Richmond, Va.. where 
he now resides, long a leading laAvyer here. 
These two, in the following year — 1838 — were 
the fir.st editors of the Quincy Whig. 

Capt. Joseph Artus, from Kentucky, an old 
time Ohio river steamboatman, came this year, 
to remain until his death, some forty years 
later. He was known and noticeable every- 
where as a quaint, earnest man. with an ab(nit 
evenly balanced reputation for oddity and 
shrewdness. He was a most inveterate ''old 
line whig," tying his faith with unfaltering 
devotion to Henry Clay. It must have almost 
made the jolly old man's bones to have turned 
in their coffin when published as he was after 
his death, by ignorance, as a "lifelong 
abolitionist," a political distinction which he 
held in especial dislike, altliough a decided anti- 
slavery man, as were most of the whigs. 

Capt. C. J. Swarthout, from New York, set- 
tled here this year, and was a marked and ac- 
tive character for some years. Who that once 
saw and knew can ever forget the form and 
features of that keen, shrewd, stern old cynic, 
his crushing connnent and scathing satire on 
whatever aroused his merciless wit to seize and 
Avorry; also Thomas Jasper, from Kentucky, 
who became popular, prosperous and prominent 
as sheriff, mayor and representative in the legis- 



lature, his latter years being clouded by 
pecuniary troubles and mental decay ; G. B. 
Dimock, a most thorough type of the un- 
smoothed practical yankee, for many years a 
prominent merchant and manufacturer: S. M. 
Bartlett. the well known cabinet maker, a ilass- 
achusetts man, associated with town and city 
matters almost throughout his life; Thonuis 
Redmond, a man of much native ability, who 
rapidly grew into being the most powerful 
political factor in the city, filling with marked 
sagacity and success many municipal positions 
and also achieving legislative honors; Timothy 
Kelly, the earliest representative man of that 
Irish element which flowed so rapidly liither at 
this period, in connection with the railroad then 
being built, a much reispectecl man whose brave 
life ended in the ^Mexican war at the battle of 
Buena Vista. 

Besides these, came Wm. Shanahan. R. S. and 
T. C. Benneson, Edward jMiller. C. M. Pomeroy, 
Allen Comstock, and to the county yet later 
associated and identified with the city the fam- 
ilies of Clement Nance. T. H. Castle. T. Durant, 
Andrew Redmond, F. Collins, of Columbus ; 
Plenry Kent. John Sharp, the BeiTians and Ar- 
rowsmiths. of Ellington . Thomas Payne, of 
]\Iarcelline, and others. 

The town board in 1838 at its first meeting in 
January appointed John Wood and Joel Rice a 
committee "to report the most beneficial and 
suitable places for improvements, as well as 
some plan to protect the community against the 
ravages of fire." This committee recommended 
the purchase of four ladders of 15. 20. 25 and 30 
feet in length; six fire hooks, and twelve 
buckets, "as the commencement of a system 
which may be extended and improved with the 
growth and experience of the place in connec- 
tion with the increase of its resources, so as 
the more fully and perfectly to protect our citi- 
zens and their property against the ravages of 
fire." These pui'chases were made and became 
the initial of our present fire department. This 
committee also, in the matter of improvements, 
recommended "that $200 be appropriated for 
the improvement of Delaware street, whenever 
.$300 is furnished by private donation," and 
that $1,000 be appropriated towards the grad- 
ina' of a street from the public square to the 
river, this first to be offered to those who pre- 
ferred the grading of ]\raine street, conditioned 
tliat tliey would give bonds to ensure the sub- 
scription and payment of whatever said srrad- 
ing would cost exceeding the $1,000 appro- 
priation. Should, however, the IMaine street 
people not accede to the proposition, it was to 
be offered to those who desired to have Hamp- 
shire street opened. The maine street people 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



73 



(lecliiiiiiii ;iihI the llauipshire street folks ac- 
ccpdiiic and coiaplyiiiii- with tlie conditions, the 
gradinj^- of that street from Fourlh to Front was 
ordered anil beunn in .Afarch. 

This was the first important i)uhlii' imj)i-ove- 
itien tiiat Ihr lown liad undertaken. It was the 
lirst straight line eommunieation between the 
viUaye on tlie liill and the business on the river 
banl\ : 1h<> only route l)efore this time having 
ln'cn liy a devious road which corlv screwed 
around amont;' llie liills and ravines from near 
the foot of \'ermont street np to about where 
tlie market house now stands on Hampshire. 
The grade level at Hampshire and Fourth had 
already been established. That on Front, which 
(b'pended so much on \v1iere Mr. Holmes" door- 
sill might happen In he was now detinitely 
fixed by ^Ii-. I'arker and some civil engineers 
employed on the Northern Cross railroad, the 
work cm wliirh li.id begun here a few months be- 
fore. 

.\t the .luiie I'lecliou. .bilin AVood. I. (). W(i(id- 
rul'f. Samuel ('. ixogers, Samuel Holmes and J. 
I'<. -Matthews were chosen as trustees; on or- 
i;auization John Wood was made president; I. 
(). AVoodi-utf, secretary; Andrew Johnston, at- 
t(uiH>y, and Robert R, Williams, treasurer. 

The market hou.se strife, which had been 
vexing the connnunit.v so long, came to a close 
during this year. The board endeavored to 
bu.v one hundred feet on the west side of Third, 
extending from IMaine to Hampshii-e, for mar- 
ket uses, but could not get it, and then pro- 
posed to purchase lot 5, in block 8, at the corner 
of Hampshire and Third, which trade being 
nuule at last, allayed this old fester. There had 
been an election iield in June at which the peo- 
])le b.v a vote of 207 to 101 decided against 
building the market house on the public square. 

The public wells business, which was an 
equall.v vexing and deeper trouble, did not as 
yet dry up. though one of them did, so it was 
ordered to be filled up and another one ordered 
to be dug at the nort Invest corner of the square. 

A census of the town taken in November 
showed a population of 1,850; males 1,020; 
females 830; over 14 years of age, 1,230: imder 
14 years. 620. 

At the November meeting the board directed 
the attorney. Johnston, to draw up a petition 
to be circulated for signatures in tlie town, and 
presented to the legislature for incorporation 
as a city. This was completed, and on Decem- 
ber ITtli prepared by the trustees, to be offered 
to the legislature, tlie boundaries being the 
same as those with which Ihc city was incor- 
porated a year later. 

The political rein-esentation, national and 
state, was somewhat changed during this year. 



I>. .M. Young and J. .M. Robinson were yet the 
v. S. Senators. Col. Wm. L. May, of Spring- 
field, was the member of congress, but he was 
succeeded by John T. Stuart, who was elected 
b.v 16 majority over Stepiien A. Douglas, out of 
nearly 40.000 vnlcs in a most closely canvassed 
district, which coiii])rised all of the state 
north of the latitude of the mouth of the Illinois 
river. This was the iir.st year when party lines 
between the whig and democratic parties were 
distinetivel.v drawn. Thomas Carlin, huig a 
state senator from this section, later and at 
tills time receiver of the land office at Quiney, 
was elected governor on the democratic ticket 
by about 300 majority over his whig opponent. 
0. H. Browning held over as state senator. At 
the August election "Arch.v" Williams and 
Wm. (t. Flood, the fir.st a whig, and the other 
a democrat, were chosen to the legislature. Wil- 
liams had been ill the iiieviciiis legislatures as 
successor to (Jalbraith who had died. Wm. H. 
Tandy was elected sheriff over Tom King, in 
rather a singular contest. Tand.v, a very 
superior man, had ])eeu elected sheriff to fill the 
vacancy made by the defalcation and e.xodus 
to Texas of Sheriff Pierce. Now when the reg- 
ular election came up he was pitted against 
King, one of the most popular and well known 
men of the count.v. Then, and until 1848, 
voting could be made in any part of the county, 
and each part.v would secretly agree to mass 
their votes and take possession of certain pre- 
cincts. King's friends had a most gloi'ious 
jollification over the first election returns, but 
the next two or three da.vs brought in the fig- 
ures from the outside precincts, and I\Ir. Tandy 
was elected. J. i\I. Ilatton was elected coroner: 
Ralston was yet judge; C. ]M. Woods, circuit 
clerk: Billingtoii, recorder, and Frazier, school 
commissioner. 

Prior to 1838. the only newspa]ier in Quiney, 
or the section of county adjoining, was the 
Illinois Bounty Land Register, founded in 1835, 
with name changed in 1837 to tiie Quiney 
Argus, and a few years later rechristened as the 
existent Quinc.y Herald. The first paper of any 
place becomes prescriptively historic. The 
original title of this journal, though now per- 
liajis peculiar, had a then local significance. 
Congress had, as has been before told, devoted 
3,500,000 acres of the luildic laud, in that 
section of Illinois, lying between the Illinois 
and Mississippi rivers and extending northward 
198 miles from tlieir junction, to the payment 
of biuinties (160 acres to e;ich) to the soldiers 
of the war of 1812. This comprehended about 
three-fifths of lh<> entire tract, and it also was 
provided that no land should be sold by the gov- 
I'rnment therein until all the bounties to the 



74 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



soldiers were paid. Thus this part of the state 
became everywhere known as the "Bounty 
Lauds." ]jater the government land office, and 
the piivate land agencies, representing to- 
gether all the unsold and unimproved land in 
the ti'aet. were located at Quincy. 

This paper properly proposed to represent 
and to make known to the wfu-ld the values of 
the fair region whose resou.rces were as yet 
unregistei'ed and undeveloped. Mainly was it 
at first given to desciiptions of the territory, 
its history, that of the several counties, notices 
of all kinds connected with the lands and the 
land business, and its circulation became great- 
ly extended from this cause. The periodical 
advertisements of delin(|uent laud sales in 
Knox, Fulton, Hancock and most of the coun- 
ties of the tract were printed in its colunnis. 
Hence it was well entitled the Bounty Laud 
Register. Later, of course, with more general 
settlements and the establishment of newis- 
papei"s in the ad.jacent counties, the character 
of the Register became changed and its sphere 
contracted. During this and the immediately 
adjoining years, the KegLster and Argus inider- 
went a kaleidoscopic change in its owner- 
ship and management. Young, Woods, Al- 
drich, Bassett, Bradley, Morris, Pettitt. Karnes 
and Booth were off' and on its owners and 
editors. It had a feeble existence until about 
the time that it came under the editorial charge 
of Austin Brooks, whose powerful partisan pen, 
aided as he was by some vigorous financial 
backing, invested the paper with an attractive- 
ness and political power such as few journals 
have, and which up to that time, it did not 
possess. 

There came in ikiw the second paper of the 
place, the Quincy Whig, the first number of 
which was issued May 5, 1838 — H. V. Sullivan, 
proprietor; N. BxTshnell and A. Johnson, two 
young lawyers, as editors. A few months later, 
S. ^L Bartlett. who had been previously editing 
a paper at Galena, came in as a partner of ilr. 
Sullivan, taking the editorial control, which 
association continued with but a brief interrup- 
tion, until Mr. Bartlett 's death in 1852. air. 
Bartlett was a man of unusual aptitude for his 
chosen profession, Avas everywhere recognized 
as one of the foremost journalists of the state, 
and under the prudent pilotage of himself and 
partner, the Whig rapidly rose to a position of 
influence and success which for many years it 
maintained. This mention of these pioneer jour- 
nals, and of their origin during the town's in- 
fancy; the one commencing as non-partisan biit 
finally becoming a democratic organ ; the other, 
starting out as a representative of the whig 
beliefs, and the two traveling since for nearlv 



hall a century on parallel lines, is essential be- 
cause the.v mark an epoch in Quincy history. It 
is from them that the annals of the place sub- 
sequent to the date of their establishment nuist 
be largel.v learned. There was no river mail as 
.vet, and none for some years later, A weekly 
mail by land from St. Louis and one also from 
Springfield gave the eastern news twice a 
week. The earliest eastern news, however, "in 
advance of tlie mail," as they used to call it, 
was from eastern or St. Louis papers, which 
jiassenuers and the steamboat officers were ex- 
pected to jn-ovide themselves with and for 
which they had calls at every landing. Many 
improvements of a substantial nature were now 
made: a special committee, informally ap- 
pointeil by the town board to look after the 
business transactions of the town, reported on 
Decemlter 12. that there had been to that date, 
during the vear, 33 brick, and 170 frame houses 
erected, at "a cost of $188,500; $425,000 worth 
of merchandise imported : $200,000 worth of 
beef and pork exported : $215,000 worth of flour 
and grain exported. The report was a fair 
estimate except in placing the cost of the build- 
ings too low. A map of the town, the first one 
made, and a very good one, was gotten up by 
I. 0. Woodruff. A military company, projected 
during the j)reeeding year, now perfected its or- 
ganization. This was the noted Quincy Greys, 
Captain E. J. Phillips, which in all the elements 
that combine to make that most attractive of 
organizations, a volunteer militia company 
stood and stayed while it lasted, A No. 1, and 
has never been excelled by any of the fine 
Quinc.v companies of later times. 

Navigation opened early and continued fair 
and long; the river clo.sing about the 10th of 
Deceml)er. 

Woi-k on the railroad in the county and town 
created nnich bn.stle and added to business. 

This railroad, projected by the state, as a 
member of its grand "international railroad 
system," intended to run from Quinc.v east- 
ward through Springfield to the Indiana line, 
was, oi- ratlier that portion of it between 
Quincy and Columbus was — placed under con- 
tract Aiiril 23, 1838 and active work upon it at 
once liegun. As originally surve.ved and ])ar- 
tially graded it was to enter the town near 
what is now the corner of Broadway and Twen- 
ty-fourth street. Traces of this old track re- 
main. From there the line ran on Broadway 
directly west to the river bank. The intention 
then was to place a stationary power on the hill 
near Twelfth street, with an "inclined plane" 
therefrom down the river. Some fifteen years 
later, when tlie road had passed out of state 
possession, and worlv upon it was renewed, the 



I'AST AND I'KESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



75 



line was cliaii'^cii l)y a i-ut hrint;- made deflecting 
iioi-t Invest from Jiroadway iieai' Kourteenth, 
tlieiic(> \viiidiii<;- its way tlirouj-ih llie hluffs and 
iiu'cliriy Front street al)out at its intersection 
with Cedar. Most of tll(> -iradiiii;' on this ahsui'd 
picrc dl' work was done, hiil not all. Better 
Juduineiit and more sUilll'iil cntjiiiccrin^'- t'ore- 
siu'ht found that this iiieasiirc only about one- 
half obviated the object icjiis to the stationary 
|)o\vci' witli its ■'incline."' and it was wisely 
concluded that it would ultimately be more 
econonncal in every way to abandon a g'rade 
which demaiuled a donblc Icjcomotive strenj;th 
to draii' fi'om the river to h^ourteenth street such 
a train as could be hauled by a single engine 
thence through to Chicago, and, better to taj) 
the oi'iginal survey some five miles east, and 
rea(di that point b.v a little longer liiu', but a 
much easiei- a.scending scale. This was done, 
but was quite generally thought then, as events 
have proven, that it would have been far better 
both for the road and the i)ublie if when the 
line was swung awa.v from the old imi)ractic- 
able suive.vs. the comjiany had adopted a south- 
easterly route and entered the city from the 
south. This would have not materially in- 
creased the distance, would have afforded an 
eas,v passage through the bluffs, secured more 
ample land room for future expansion; short- 
ened the length of the future bridge by one- 
half, and avoided nnich of collision with (H)r- 
[loi'ation interests. The influences governing at 
that time however decided ditt'erently and 
ado]ited the present northern route. 

It had been provided in the general law that 
this road should be specially pushed foi'ward 
in advance of other ])ublic works, ft was com- 
menced in 1837, and by the time the interna- 
tional .s.vstem collapsed, perhai)s two-thirds of 
its grading had been completed, in the state. 
The first rail, and also the first iu Illinois, was 
laid :\ray Dth, 1838, and on the Sth of Novem- 
ber of the same year the first locomotive in the 
state, and probably the first that ever traveled 
west of Pittsburg, ran over the eight miles of 
track, immediately east of Meredosia, which 
l)y that time had been put in passable condi- 
tion. Within a year and a half after the road 
Wfis |)ut in running ordei- from ^leredosia to 
Springlield at a cost of $],()(»(l.()0(l it was run, 
or rathei' it crejif, after a fashion for several 
years belweeii these two points. 

The trade, though up to the standard, was 
cheaii i'> contrast with what is known nowa- 
days. Instead of the (diaired T rail there were 
wooden sti'ingers crossing th(> sleei)ei's ('or ties 
as the.v are iu)w called) and spiked down upon 
the stringers were flat bars of iron abont six- 
teen or eiLditeeu feet long. Thes(> were then 



and are yet known as the "flat rail," fit now 
only for light local use, but at that time gen- 
erally used. The ends of the Hat bars were 
constantl.v curling up and received the ai)pro- 
I)riate name of "snake heads" — looking like a 
prairie snake with the foi'c inirt of his body 
erect. The i)ressure and weight of the train 
on the central part of the rails bent them and 
forced the ends to fly up. looseinng the spikes, 
and not a week, indeed hai'dly ;i trip passed, 
when the train was not snagged and stopped 
by the ".snake heads" passing up between the 
wheels, or was che(d<ed up while the engineer 
and firemen went ahead to sjjike tlown the rails. 
And the truth is, because we were there and 
know (boys were boys then as much as they are 
now), it was a very attractive occupation for 
youthful energy with its c<)ntemi)t for the 
whizzing "loco" — that consumed the entire day 
in its travel from Springfield to the river, and 
with the natural juvenile sympath.v for what 
is pounded down as constantl.v as those flat 
bars were, if was we say very attractive work 
for the boys all along the road, to rival each 
other in loosening those battered sjjikes and al- 
lowing the Hatfened snake heads to again 
assume an npi'ight position. Such was the road, 
a mere fragment of the great "improvement" 
scheme. It was run by the state for some years 
at a cou.stant loss. 

In 1848-9 that poition of the road between 
Springfield and Quincy was sold by the state 
for $100,000 in state securities. The section 
lying east of the Illinois river was taken by 
the Springfield and Jacksonville company. 
Parties in xVdams and Brown counties formed 
a company and were incorporated and organ- 
ized as the Northern Cross Railroad company, 
being possessors of all the frani'hises covering 
that part of the old state I'oad between Qiiiucy 
and the Illinois river. They obtained with 
their charter the right to make a branch of 
their road northward nnder certain conditions. 
This company securing large local .subscrip- 
tions, diverting the line tKU'thward at Camp 
Point, completed it to (Jaleslmrg, where it met 
the Chicago-l?ui-liugton i-oad. and was finally 
merged therewith, under the pi-esenf name of 
the Chicago. Burlington and (^uim-y railroad. 
That portion of the oi'igiiud road east of Camp 
Point was at a later date constructed in similar 
manner, and by some of the same |)arties. and 
finally became part of what is now the Wabash 
railroad. 

This slice of old-time railroad history, well 
known to parties in the past, is not so generally 
known at present, and is told in connection with 
this joint railroad story, although the story 



76 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



runs into events belonging to a twenty years' 
later time. 

As one enterprise suggests auotlier. so did 
this project of a railroad, to run through the 
central and upper portion of the county, led 
to a rival movement which resulted in the in- 
corporation and organization of the "Quincy, 
Griggsville, Jacksonville and Springfield Turn- 
pike company." More than this was not done, 
and it is to be regretted : for it was many a 
year before the railroad eomnuuiication was 
eomjilete, and during the time of its non-com- 
pletiou, for inany a year the "mud wagon" and 
the "bone breaker," held undisputed sway over 
the route. 

The year 1838 was a steady progressive year 
desi)ite the hard times. Considering the limited 
means that the town possessed, a great deal was 
effected, and was done with judgment and 
economy. The grade on several of the principal 
streets was established : Hampshire street was 
made passable from the public square to the 
river; a bridge was built over the creek on 
Delaware near Front; a fire department was 
organized; the cemetery enclosed, and a sys- 
tematic plan of action and improvement insti- 
tuted, exceeding what had been done in any 
previous year. A summary of the receipts and 
expenditures during the year ending June 9, 
1838, exhibits as received, from taxes, $1,- 
775.19 : show license. !f!25.00 : subscriptions to 
grade Hampshire street, .$370 ; sale of cemetery 
lots, $255, which with $206.49. on hand at the 
commencement of the year, gave a revenue of 
$2.()31.98. There was expended during this 
time, for the cemetery. .$956.11 ; public wells, 
$109; hooks and ladders. .$56; streets and 
bridges. $1.070 ; fees, commissions and sundries, 
$379.59, leaving a balance in the treasury of 
$61.28. The liabilities of the town were re- 
ported as amounting to about $2,700. much 
of which was on the Hampshire street improve- 
ment account, and was amply offset by notes 
given for the same, unpaid taxes, and amounts 
due on the cemetery lots which had been sold. 
The current expenses of the tow'u were very 
light. No salary was given to any of the offi- 
cers. The collector and treasurer were paid by 
connnissions on what passed through their 
hands. This year for the first time, an allow- 
ance of $50 was voted to the secretary. It was 
proper. The board paid no office rent. They 
met regularly at Mr. Woodruff^ 's (the secre- 
tary) office, had his services, used his furniture, 
firewood and probably his stationery, and there 
was justice in their act of making this allow- 
ance. All the work of the toAvn was done on the 
cheapest of systems. As an illustration : Jerome 
A. Swazey was appointed to take the census of 



the town ; he was also directed to present the 
laetition for incorporation as a city, to all the 
voters. He was allowed $10 for his (juite lengthy 
and responsible work. 

During this, or late in the preceding year, the 
first regular book store made its appearance. 
It was opened by Wm. D. Skilhnan, of Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky. This business was purchased 
a few years after by Newton Plagg, who had 
been clerk Avith Skilhnan. Some ten or twelve 
years later, it was transferred to J. R. Dayton, 
and is now, (1883) with changed proprietors 
and name, probably the oldest continuous mer- 
cantile business of the city. An earnest meet- 
ing was held on the 13th of December, for the 
purpose of founding an academy or high school. 
A great deal of interest was manifested in this 
movement by all classes. Articles of incor- 
poration had been previously obtained, but the 
project moved no farther. The wrong parties 
sought to father it and it was a failure. 

This failure Avas unfortunate and long re- 
gretted. Such an institution could have been 
had and was needed. This was long before 
the establishment of the present public school 
system. There were a number of private schools. 
Bradley, Hollowbush. Safford, Miss Katurah 
Wood, the Misses De Krafft and others kept 
good schools, but like all individual enterprises 
of this nature, the facilities were not broad and 
the standard of scholarship not of the highest. 

Political feeling during the summer canva.ss 
of 1838, swelled higher than it had ever ran 
before. It will be remembered that then, and 
until 1848, all elections, other than the presi- 
dential, came off in August, and hence most of 
the i3olitical canvassing ran through, and ran 
out during, the spring and summer months. 

Presidential sti'ifes were not neai'ly so im- 
portant then as now, and occurring only once 
in four years, the November elections excited 
less interest and usually called out only about 
two-thirds of the vote. 

The elections in 1836 had not definitely de- 
clared the political status of Illinois, while that 
of Adams county remained equall.y uncei-tain 
and did not become a fixed condition until 1844. 
The whig and democratic nominations at this 
time were made with the particular intent to 
develop the strength of their respective parties, 
and there appeared but two candidates for the 
governorship. This was unusual. In Adams 
county also a local bitterness attached to the 
struggle from the fact that it was the residence 
of Thomas Carlin, the democratic candidate 
for governor, who had also been an extreme 
partisan, and as such roused nuich local op- 
position as well as support. He was elected 
over Cyrus Edwards by a majority in the state 



PAST AND i'liESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



77 



of 0,947 out (if a total vote of ():^.r)0l2. t-aiTyiiis 
the covinty also by 2S4 iiiajoi'ity in a vote of 
2.014. Tliesi" tiiiui'es. botli in tlie state and 
c-ounty more tlian doubled the ajjgregate vote 
cast at the governor's election in 18:M, indicat- 
inu: a ])ro|)ortionate increase of pojndation dur- 
ing this foul- y(>ai's. At this same election, 
Stephen A. Donglas, candidate for congress, re- 
ceived 1:51 ma.joi-ity in the county over John T. 
Stuart, l"):} less than that given to Carlin, while 
Ai-chibald Williams, whig, and Wni. (i. Flood, 
(Iciiiiicrat, were elected to the h'gislatnre, beat- 
ing 1'. W. ^Martin and Jacob Sniilli, the other 
whig and democratic candidates, showing as 
before stated that the political (•(luiplcxinn of 
the county was as yet nncertain. 

This, like the preceding and several subse- 
quent years, wiis a season of extreme financial 
depression. No one now. who was not conver- 
sant with that period, can realize the conditions 
of the "hard times" of ISMfi and '37 and the 
few following years. 

Among the early comers to the town and 
vicinity during this year were Wm. B. Powers, 
Timotliv Rogers, Jared Blansett, John and Sam- 
uel llutton, N. Flagg, U. S. Penfield, Dr. W. D. 
Kood, Paul Konantz. E. Littlefield. (i. Walt- 
house, J. R. llilborn. I. N. IMorris, .). H. Best, 
F. \V. Jansen, Oliver Gerry, (ieorge Banghman, 
Philil) Sehwabel, Vaudorn, IMiller, lliggins, 
Hazlewood, Abel, George Folkrod, O. H. 15ishop, 
Jacob Wagner. Henry Kent. Byewater, Brad- 
bury, W. II. Gather, J. Schinii. G. Powell and 
others. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
1840. 

PROSPEROUS SEASON. DIVISION' OP CITY INTO 
THREE W.\RDS. FINANCIAL ST.^TEMENT. 
FIRST CITY ELECTION. EBENEZER MOORE. 
FIRST MAYOR. '■WHIG." THE OFFICIAL PAPER 
OF THE CITY. PUBLIC SCHOOL QUESTION. 
CORNER STONE OF PRESBYTERIAN CRURCH 
LAID BY DR. NELSON. FIRST MEDICAL SOCIE- 
TY. FIRST THEATRE. JOE JEFFERSON. BEAR 
KILLED AT LIMA LAKE. 

Eighteen hundred and forty was an ambit ions 
yc-ir for (^uincy. Fifteen years earlici-. the 
phicc hail been chosen and christenetl as the 
county seat of Adams county: having then a 
pojiulation of three families, comprisinu- in all. 
])erha])s fifteen residents of all ages. 

Throughout the nine years following from 
18l2."). its government had been in the hands of 
the county conunissioners. and during this 
period, with all th(> drawbacks of isolation; a 
thin aiKJ \uiiiy i-uunti-y population to support it: 
little capitid of its own: notoriously and truly 
reputed as being " uidiealthy," sadly scourged 



for several successive years by fever and 
cholera, and having a large, rough and reckless 
element in its scant i)opulatioiL it managed to 
struggle along to an incorporated existence as 
a town in 1834, with an estimated poi)iilatioii of 
700. It was less than that figure, however, since 
a somewhat carefully taken census in 1835, gave 
735 as the correct number. Then, for the six 
succeeding years, if was controlled liy its board 
of town trustees, with steadily increasing num- 
bers and wealth in 1840, it outgrows ifs youth- 
ful character and becomes the third in the state 
in age and the second in populafitm. 

An estimate of its poi)ulation at this period 
(1840) placed it at 1,850, but a stafemeut pub- 
lished some years later by the Northern Gross 
Railroad Company, nuide it 2,310 in 1840. 'I'he 
first named figures, however, are probably neai'- 
ly correct. The valuation of property in the 
city at this period was .^912.823. 

The winter of 1839-40 was short but severe. 
Navigation was completely suspended from 
December 21.sf, 1839, to February 20th, 1840, 
but during this period, the fiow of ice was un- 
usually heavy, and extended below the Ohio, 
much farther than usual, proportionately im- 
peding navigation in the lower river. The pros- 
perity of the town, however, considering the 
general hard times, was less affected by these 
ice blockades than formerly, for there had been 
gradually growing up winter business, which 
afforded employment for labor. The flouring 
mills and the i)rovision packing houses had now 
assumed good and permanent standing, being 
the beginning of large local industries, which 
during twenty and thirty later years swelled in- 
to large proportions. The ice business, for 
which the location of Quiney is so excellently 
adapted and which has since become so exten- 
sive, was not begun until some fifteen years 
after this date. 

The town autluu'ifies were much busied by 
their increased duties and their preparation for 
the transfer of authority to the succeeding cor- 
poration. 

In Febi'uary a plan for a market house was 
])i-epared and ifs construction, at the corner 
of Hampshire and Third, ordered. At the saiiu^ 
time, an election was ordered to be held on the 
third W^ednesday of March, foi- a vote on fli(> 
adoption of the city charter, which had passed 
the legislature this same month. The future 
city was divided into three wards: all north 
of Hampshire forming the first : all south of 
Hampshire and between Hampshire, and ]Maine 
from the i-iver east to Fifth, then south of Fifth 
to York, thence north of York to the eastern 
b(uuidary of the city being the second, and all 
srath of the second making the third. These 



78 PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAIMS COUNTY. 

divisions coutiuued for sixteen years, wlien Tliese reports are suggestive, since they con- 
under a new city charter, the number of wards trast the necessary expenses of the growing 
in 1857 was increased to six. At this election town with what they had been a few years 
held over the adoption of the city charter the earlier. Four years before, in June, 1836, the 
vote stood 'J28 for, to 12 against. second year of the town incorporation, it ap- 

On the 18th of ilarch the trustees ordered pears from the town treasurer's report, that 

an election for city officers to be held on the he had within the twelve months, preceding, re- 

20th of April, the three voting places being, ceived $254.82, and had during that time ex- 

the Baptist church on Fourth, the courthouse pended $258 — quite a contrast this with the 

and the Congregational church on Fourth, later conditions. These reports are also still 

which places long continued to be used as such, more suggestive in their exhibition of the 

With the winding up of the affairs of the sources of revenue upon which the town did 
town corporation, preparatory to its becoming a then and the coming cit.v must rely; as also 
city reports were ordered and made to the the proportionate degree of expenditure that 
trustees covering its past year's business and should be provided for. These receipts and ex- 
present financial condition. These reports were penses, as will be seen, graded at the time very 
made by the treasurer and clerk of the final much as now, though it will be noted that in the 
meetings of April 20 and 21, 1840. That of the above statements two costly and necessary fac- 
treasurer, Enoch Conyers. who was afterward tors in a city's expenditures (pauper and police 
three times made mayor of the city (dying accounts) do not appear. And to these may be 
while in office in 1849) showed that he had dur- added the other now expenses of a growing 
ing the past twelve months, received .$6,483.90, city, sucli as light and water, 
an'd paid out $6,137.76. leaving a balance in his The first election for city officers, held on the 
hands of $364.14. This sum. which was all in 20th of April, was important and exciting. Be- 
county orders, he was directed to pay over to side the importance of the offices to be filled and 
the treasurer of tlie incoming administration, the patronage connected therewith, this was the 
This at the proper time was done, and the above first occasion when the relative strengtli of 
amount was the "pin money" with which the political parties in (^uiney was definitely deter- 
young city started upon its career, before taxes, mined, althougli a partial test had been made 
licenses and the ustuil sources of revenue could at the election for magistrates in the preceding 
commence bringing funds into the city treasury, year. Heretofore at all the elections any resi- 
A detailed fiscal statement was prepared by the dent of tlie county, who was a qualified voter, 
clerk, I. 0. Woodrutt'. who was one of the most could cast his vote at whatever precinct of the 
accurate of clerical men, and who then and county he cliose. The voting was then, and 
since in such positions proved himself to be of continued until 1848, viva voce. Party lines 
peculiar public value. This report, agi'eeing now became at once closely drawn. Excellent 
with that of the treasurer, is as follows: nominations were made by both parties. The 

whigs selected as their candidate for mayor. 

RECEIPTS. -nn^ Ebenezer i\loore. a much respected man. long 

Balance from late treasurer $ 9o6.88 lJ„„.^^.,^ ^s a mauistrate: a lawyer by profession. 

Subscriptions to IIanq)shire Street 80.00 ,^,j^ ^^^^^^.^ speciallv engaged in various business 

Theatre and circus license lOo.OO ao-pncies. About" thirteen years later, he en- 

Gi-ocery 7r~"Q*^ gaged in banking in which he was unfortunate. 

Store ?.lci ^™d removed finally to Washington City, where 

Real estate taxes 3.2 < 6.64 j^^ ^u^^^ 

Cemetery sales 385.00 rpj^^ dcnioci-ats nominated General Samuel 

T TTT, Leech, a very worthy and well known "old citi- 

Total $6,483.90 j,en" who came to Quiucy some years before 

EXPENDITURES. as register of the public land office and was ap- 

Streets $3,222.47 pointed receiver, which office he held at this 

Fire department and engine 2.003.13 time. Eight or ten years later, he moved to 

Salaries, etc 443.99 ilinncsota, where he held a similar appoint- 

Sundries 324.8(5 ment. ( Jeneral Leech was at this time one of the 

Cemetery 143.31 town trustees. 

The whigs nominated for aldermen — two in 

Total $6,137.76 each ward— J. E. Jones, H. Asbury, R. R. Wil- 

Balance 346.14 liams. F. W. Jansen, J. N. Ralston and John 

Wood : the democratic nominees were B. F. 

$6,483.90 Osborne, W. P. Reeder. T. :\Iunroe. E. Conyers 



PAST AND I'KKSENT OF ADA:\rS COUNTY. 



79 



;iii(l A. Delahar. two of tlii' scvt'ii trustees — 
(Olivers iiiid Jones — were iioiiiiuated as candi- 
dates for aldermen. 

The contest was earnest, lint good-natured. 
KveiyluKly engaged in it. Everybody knew 
everyliody. There was a large jiroportion of 
active, .jolly young men here then, and many 
of tile iiiiisl intimate fricinls I'linnd themselves 
lighting each other. 

fun. newspaper s((uihs aiul lampoons were 
the ortier of tiie day. One young man, who 
had lieen foi' many pears past drawing upon 
other banks than that of Helicon, reaped quite 
a success as a poetic satirist, a vociition which 
he has lung since abaudonetl. i'erhaps his two 
\cais association in classic Europe, away from 
the "root of all evil," may tend to rekindle 
some portion of his former juvenile tire. 

A not bad hit and repartee jiassed between 
two friends at the polls, (ien. Ijeech, as all who 
knew iiim will remember, was a stiff, awkward, 
ungainly man. walking as though he had no 
joints. Said a whig, pointing to Leech, "Look 
at liiat movement, do you call that a gait or a 
])air of bars.' He can't run." "You'll find," 
retorted his democratic friend, "by the time 
the polls clo.se that its a flight of steps." 

Hut it did not so prove. Moore was elected 
by 4:i majority, and the whigs secured all of 
tin- aldermen except Asbury in the first ward, 
who fell three votes short of success. >\ll of 
these men then elected, the first of our city 
fathers, now dead, and of all the men who 
served as trustees during the six years of the 
town existence, only one. I?obert Tillson, is 
(1886) now living. 

As it may be snpposetl. there was now a busy 
time and much work before the authorities of 
the young city. For the first month or two the 
council meetings were frequent. Organization 
was made on the 23rd of Ajuil. when tlie six 
elected aldermen were by lot divided into two 
classes — Osborii. Jauseu and l\alston drawing 
into the liist class, to holil foi- one year, and 
dones. Williams and Wood to the second class, 
whose term continued for two years. LatiT in 
the season — in October — Alderman Jones, of 
the i''iis1 waril. resigned. An election was 
oi'del-ed \u lie held ill Xoveillber to fill the 
vai'aucN'. but when the day came around the 
judges of the election forgot all about it. and 
another election was held on December "Jlst, 
when Charles ]\IcUouald was chosen. .\t the 
seiMUid and succeeding meetings the corps of 
officers allowed under the charter and neces- 
sary for the complete organization of the city 
government were chosen. Then, under the 
first city charter, only the mayor and alder- 
iiK'ii were elected by a ]>o|iiilar vote, all other 



officials lieing chosen by the council — a .system 
far preferable to that which has succeeded. 

S. P. Church Avas apjjointed clerk, with a 
salary of $200 and his bond fixed at $1,000. 
Andrew .Johnston, treasurer, with a reipiired 
bond of ,$4.tl(M); -lacob (iniell. marshal and col- 
lector, with a bond (d' $200 for the first and 
.$1,000 for the latter office : I. O. Woodruff, 
assessor; John T\. Kaiidolph, attorney; George 
Wood, sexton: -1. 1). .Mcugan. fire warden; 
Enoch Conyers, overseer of the jioor, and Wm. 
King. Harrison Dills and John Odell. street 
supervisors. 

These men completed and const iluted the first 
year's city government, and. so lieing — the first 
city fathers — their names are entitled to be 
given and to receive such amount of immortal- 
ity as their own merits and this mention m;iy 
secure. 

The council meetings were held at the court- 
house until about the first of Xevember. and 
after that time at the mayor's office. The town 
ordinances were continued until the 30th of 
May. when a sy.stem of city ordinances was 
adopted. A troublesome ((uestioii of authority 
came up almo.st at the very first, which created 
some public embari'a.ssment and aroused con- 
siderable feeling, (iov. Carlin, an hone.st but 
narrow-minded man, of strong partisan pro- 
clivities, refused to commission Mayor ]\loore 
as a justice of the peace, which he liecame 
under the charter by virtue of his election as 
mayor, and the case at once assumed a political 
hue. The council took the matter up; de- 
manded of the governor his reasons; passed 
some pretty sharp resolutions in regard to his 
conduct: obtained decided legal opinions; com- 
menced legal movements and for some months 
there seemed to be a small civil war on ]ia]ier 
lietween the city and "the state, or rather be- 
tween the city council and the governor. It 
was finally settled in favor of tlu^ mayor. 

The lU'dinances. proceedings ainl advertise- 
ments of the council were ordered to be |u-iiite<l 
in the Whig for $7") per annum. The many 
petiti(uis against tlie issuing of "grocery" or 
"dram shop" licenses, which had been before 
the late town board and were there dismissed 
for the reason that tlie\- did not represent a 
majority of the legal voters, early came up 
again before the city council and were once 
more dismissed for the same reason as before. 
The grading of ^Taine street from the public 
square to the river and the extension south- 
ward of the public landing, which then was a 
mirrow ]iiece of new made ground at the foot 
of Hampshire, were ordered and contracted for 
in December, the landing to be extended with 
the earth taken from ^[aine street. Also at 



8o 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



the same time a contract was made for the 
fencing of the public square. All those im- 
provements, then commenced, which met with 
much popular and some council opposition, 
were completed during the coming year. 

The public school question, which had been 
here, as everywhere else in the west, a disputed 
issue between two contlicting ideas, received 
early and earnest attention from the people 
and the city authorities. The growth of this 
invaluable, inestimable interest against chilling 
and distrustful influences up to its present con- 
dition and strength is interesting. There was 
then a huge hostility to common schools, partly 
growing out of a sectional distrust of education, 
partly out of a feeling, which, to some extent, 
still exists, that public moneys should not be 
expended upon that which every one did not 
want, and that no one should be taxed to pay 
for what his neighbor thought to be needed and 
himself did not. This had to be met. At a 
public meeting held on the first of August, a 
call was made upon the city council to make an 
appropriation in behalf of a common school sys- 
tem. The coiincil took the matter under advise- 
ment. 

Dr. Ralston, one of the most excellent and 
exemplary men. both in public, and private 
life, that the city ever had, gave to this sub.ject 
his special interest and attention, bringing the 
matter continually before the council, where, 
as with the public, his intelligence and integrity 
gave him more than an average influence. It 
was ordered in October, at his recommendation, 
that city iniblie schools should be established ; 
that "the surplus revenue of the city, after pay- 
ing ordinai'y and contingent expenses," should 
be devoted to that purpose, and that a consulta- 
tion should be had with the township school 
trustees in regard to buying ground and the 
building of two school houses. Later, after 
these conferences were had. the council, in 
December, ordered the building of a school 
house in the old cemetery lot, where the court- 
house now stands, and the purchase of a lot on 
block 30, where now is the Franklin school 
house. Prom these plantings, which did not 
fully bear fruit until in the succeeding year, 
our present city school system has grown. 

The building of a market house, which had 
been proposed in the town board in the pre- 
ceding spring, Avas again brought forward and 
a proposition made to the county authorities 
to sell a portion of the market lot for a sufficient 
sum to build or partially build a market house 
on the remainder of the lot. This, however, laid 
over until the next year. 

The matter of a market hoiise and also that 
of a courthouse involved a vexations fjuestion 



between the city and county concerning the 
ownership and control of ijublie property lying 
within the city limits, which for a full half cen- 
tury later was the cause of much bitter and 
senseless strife, fostered by local demagogues 
so long as the county vote largely prepondered 
over that of the city. This has recently been 
resolved and settled, and it is to be hoped for- 
ever. 

This jealous controversy delayed for many 
years much needed improvement, and to some 
extent also embarrassed for awhile the effective 
establishment of the public school system, be- 
fore alluded to, which had been practically in- 
augurated during this year. 

Miiil facilities were not as yet what they 
should have been, considering the size and 
growing business importance of the place. The 
tri-weekly mail from Springfield, was still the 
main medium through which was received east- 
ern news. Another tri-Aveekly mail from St. 
Louis alternated with the above. No river mail 
had as yet been established, although it was 
by private conveyance of newspapers on the 
daily arriving of steamers that the earliest 
special news from abroad was obtained. 
Navigation was long continued, and the river 
did iu)t finally close until the 18th of December. 
This will be remembered as one of the longest 
known jieriods of open water in the Mississippi, 
which was surpassed by the yet longer con- 
tinued navigation, free from ice, of the two fol- 
lowing years, 1841-42, when the river remained 
open all winter. 

This was notably an organizing period, ilany 
of tlie present permanent a.ssoeiations, and some 
temporary ones which served their purpose, but 
have i>assed away, date their origin from this 
time. 

A medical society was formed in March, 
which, though its existence lapsed at times, was 
the germ of the present institution of that char- 
acter. A theatre, under the management of 
".Joe Jefferson," had been established during 
the jireeeding winter, and was operated with a 
good share of success and credit for nearly two 
years. An argricultural society was in existence, 
but with a feeble life, and it was not until some 
fifteen years later that such an institution be- 
came successfully organized. There was also 
foi-med a historical society, composed of very 
capable membership, which promised well at 
first, and gathered a good deal of the then fresh, 
crude material of infant history for future use, 
but it has unfortunately been allowed to 
dwindle out of existence. An institution of this 
kind is an essential of measureless value, and 
should be organized as early as pos.sible in every 
vonng growing communitv; since with each 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



81 



passiiijj year more scant and nncertain li(><'ntn(> 
the sources from which after times can cull the 
curious and valuable traditions of old days. 

The Pi'cshyterian church, an otVshoot. like 
most of the early religious societies, from the 
old Congreg:ational, was organized at the court- 
house on the 19th of January, and on the 31st 
of August tlie corner .stone was laid of the 
brick churcii Imilding on Jfaine street, which 
they occupied for nearly forty years. Dr. 
David Nelson conducted the cei-enionies. This, 
M'hen finished, was the most im])osing church 
structure in the city. Tlie Unitarian was formed 
about this time, under the pastorship of the 
Rev. (Jeorge iMoore, a most excellently educated 
and populai' clei'gyman. This tlenominal ion. 
then small, now perhaps the wealthiest in the 
city, built a small frame church on the north 
side of Elaine street, between Third and Fourth 
from which they moved a few years later to the 
corner of Jersey and Sixth, and thence to their 
present handsome home cm .Maine street be- 
tween Sixth and Seventh. 

This was a memorable, almost unprecedented 
year of party strife and excitement. Since 
1828 no such wild wave of partisan enthu.siasm 
had swept over the land, so sharply changing 
existing political conditions. As in 1826, this 
great upheaval occurred most conspicuously in 
the west, and its great coming was but par- 
tially foreshadowed by the summer state con- 
tests. Still the evident tendency of public sen- 
timent .shown in the August elections, gave 
increased strength and certainty to the almost 
unanimous national success of the whigs in the 
following November. 

\t the state election in Augusl. .]. II. Ral- 
ston to the senate, "Wm. Laughliu and I. C. 
Humphreys to the house, and Thomas Ja.sper 
as sheriff, were elected bv the democrats, over 
Archibald Williams, N. Bushnell and R. W. 
Starr, and Wm. TT. Tandy (whigs) by major- 
ities ranging fi'om 20 to 100. These figures were 
more than revei'sed three months later, when 
the whigs carried the county by 265 and the 
city by 72 majority. The abolition party then 
first appeared as a factor in politics, poling 42 
votes. 

The August election was inlluenced and |)r(il)- 
ably determined b.v the large Irish vote, which 
work upon the railroad had brought into the 
county. At this election was witnessed the 
first, and indeed the only political riot that has 
ever occurred in Quinc.v. The railroad hands 
took entire possession of the polls and the mob 
had to be dispersed by the calling out of the 
militia. Beyond there being many knock 
downs, bruises and bad scars, no great injury 
resulted, though some men of political promi- 



luMU'e then and since nuule most astonishing 
runs at the point of the bayonet, or were care- 
fully placed under military giuird. The war- 
fare of that day was long a subject of amuse- 
mcnt. 

A speciid session of the legislature was called 
in .Xovembei'. Why or what for it was difficidt 
to know, since the session lasted but sixteen 
days and adjouriu>d without passing any bills. 

The gradu.d disai)pearance of some of the 
earlier sjx'cics of game was noted by a bear 
being killed (probably the last one in the 
county) near Ijima Lake, by Wilson Land and 
Swartout, which weighed three hundred 
iKiuuds. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
1841. 

POLITIC.\L. Cn-TING A CANAL FROM WOOD 
SLOUGH TO RIVKR. FERRY RATES ESTAB- 
LISHED. QUEER ORIGIN OF THE FIRST CITY 
SE,\L. COUNTY SEAT STRUGGLE. LIBRARY. 
FIRST ENGRAVED BONDS. THE "YAGERS." 
FIRST GERM.^N MH.ITARY COMPANY. A DAILY 
LINE OF STEAMBO.VTS. QUINCY HERALD. 
I'ROGRESS OF SCHOOLS. 

At the session of 1840-41 a new legislative 
apportionment was made which gave Adams 
county one senator and five representatives. 
No elections, however, was held under this 
law until the summer of 1842. The judiciary 
system of the state, as organized under the 
constitution of 1818 and which had been 
legislatively changed in 1824, 1827, 1829 and 
1835, was now radically recognized at this 
session by legislating out of office all the cii"- 
cuit judges and creating five supreme court jus- 
tices, who, with the four life office judges, hold- 
ing office under the constitution of 1813, should 
constitute a sui)reme court and each of them 
also re(|uii'ed to perform circuit court duty. 
This act dismissed from the bench Judge Peter 
Lott, of this circuit, and his place was filled by 
the appointment of Stephen A. Douglas, Judge 
Douglas, who had previously presided in Jack- 
sonville, became now a resident of Quincy. Here 
he lived, representing the district afterward 
three times in congress, until after his election 
to the U. S. senate, when he removed to Chi- 
cago some eiglit or ten years later. 

The congressional election in August resulted 
in the success of the whig ticket. Johu T. Stu- 
art having been rechosen to congress over 
J. H. Ralston, carrying the county by a major- 
ity of 13G in a total vote of 2.978. " Ebenezer 
]\roore was again elected mayor at the city elee- 



82 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



tiou ill April over Daniel Atkinson and Robert 
Evans. J. H. Ralston and John Abbe were 
elected as aldermen and Samuel P. Church was 
reappointed clerk. In August of this year died 
Alderman R. R. Williams, one of the pioneer 
men who had been almost constantly connected 
with the town and city councils. He had an 
excellent professional standing as a lawyer and 
was etiually regarded as an exemplary and 
useful citizen. His place in the board was 
tilled by the election of II. V. Sullivan. 

There had long been an apprehension that 
the steady encroachment of the tow-head bar 
might ultimately destroy the public landing, 
and to avert this danger the city apjjropriated 
•¥2,000, in connection with a public subscrip- 
tion, for the purpose of cutting a canal from 
the river into Wood slough so as to bring a 
constant current into the bay. This work was 
commenced in February and soon completed. 
Its value, however, was doubtful. 

The receipts into the treasury up to the 1st 
of January, 1S41, being the first eight months 
of the city government, were reported as 
amounting to $2,762.25. The salary of the 
mayor for the year ending April, 1841, Avas 
fixed at $250. The market house, so long a 
subject of controversy, was built after much 
trouble and delay in deciding upon the plan, 
at the corner of Hampshire and Third streets. 
Rates for the ferry, then owned by Carlin & 
Rogers, were established and a license fee of 
$60 imposed. The fencing of the public square 
was completed. 

A novel excitement came up early during the 
year Avhich aroused a good deal of feeling at 
the time and led to the selection of the singu- 
lar design for the first city seal. John Wood 
had, at his own expense, with the concurrence 
of the council, transplanted to the center of the 
square a handsome elm tree about a foot in 
diameler. Tliere had been an opposition to the 
enclosing of the public square and its adorn- 
ment Avitli shrubbery, which finally engendered 
some political bitterness. On the night of May 
6tli some graceless scamijs girdled and thus 
killed the tree. In the next issue of the Argus, 
the democratic paper of the place, appeared a 
irougli cut purporting to represent ]\Ir. Wood 
resting upon his cane and mournfully gazing at 
the dead tree. The city council offered a re- 
ward of $100 for the detection of the rogues. 
They were soon discovered, but found to be 
not worth the trouble of punishing. 

At their meeting on June 26th the council 
ordered that "the elm tree and flagstaff upon 
the public square, as represented in the Argus 
some time since, be adopted as the device of 
a seal for the city." This representation of a 



man standing alongside a dead tree was used 
as the "(^uincy City seal" for some years, until 
a later council, composed of some of those 
whose wrong teachings were the indirect cause 
of this former vandalism, and who felt sensi- 
tive about it, changed it to the i^resent more 
appropriate and tasteful design. 

The fiscal statement of the city, made April 
27th. 1841. is worthy of reference as showing 
its financial condition during the first year of 
its existence. Summarized it is as follows: It 
will be noticed that a considerable portion of 
the expenditure was upon the unsettled indebt- 
edness of the town of Quincy. which had be- 
come the heritage of the city : 

Quincy town debts paid $1,100.36 

Quincy city debts paid 4.528.08 

Cash on hand 13.34 

$5,641.78 

Received from town of Quincv $ 355.99 

Collected taxes, etc " $4,392.30 

Vouchers outstanding 893.49 

.$5,641.78 

Due on cemetery lots $ 380.00 

Due on other credits 235.72 

Cash 13.34 

Rer-.ources $ 629.06 

The cost of the fire department was $214.24; 
street supervisors' expenditures, $264.11; pau- 
pers, $335.79 ; .surveying, platting, etc., $298.12 ; 
expense, salaries, etc.. $1,059.46; the remainder, 
some $22 or .$23, being expended on streets, 
mainly the completion of Hampshire and the 
commencement of work on Maine to Front, also 
the grading of Front and the public square. 

The city ordinances which, like those of the 
town, had heretofore only seen the light occa- 
sionally through publication in tlie weekly pa- 
pers, were now revised and issued in pamph- 
let foim for the first time. A city poorhouse 
was also rented at the rate of $100 per annum, 
the pauper demands upon the young city hav- 
ing become then — as they ever since have in- 
creased to be — a most expensive factor. A city 
jihysicia.n was employed. Dr. Eells was the 
first regular city physician, although Dr. Rals- 
ton had informally, through his position in 
the council, acted as such for a few months 
before. A cpiestion brought out the statement 
from the county clerk that the cost and ex- 
penses on the courthouse, commenced in 1836 
and finished in 1836. and burned in 1875. 
amounted to $21,800. and those on the jail to 
$13,681. 



PAST AM) l>Hi]SENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



83 



Tliere was a sliglit dissatislactiiiii in 1825 
w hen the county seat was established at Quincy, 
lu'cause it had not l)e('n jihit-ed in the jj^eo^raphi- 
cai centre of the county as was done in many 
olhei- counties of the state. Ten years later, 
wlien the county vote ^I'fi'tl.v outnumbered that 
of the town, l)eino: nearly two tn (inc. this i.ssue 
was raised and it was enipluitii-ally decided in 
favor of retaiiiiiiL; the county seat at Quiney. 
Tlie dissatisfaction still smouldered, however, 
and resulted in the passage of a law. Avhich 
was approved .January 19, 1841, ordei-ing an 
election to be held in Adams count}' on the 
(piestion of removing the county seat from 
Quiney to Columbus. A most bitter .sectional 
and [)ersonal contlict ensued. It was fostered 
by persoiuil aiul political interests. The fierce- 
ness of the antagonism i-aised by this strife can 
scarcely be realized now. 

State and county officials were to be chosen 
and a vote taken on the proposition for a con- 
vention to revise the state constitution, or to 
make a new one. This project was warmly 
sup|)orted in Quiney for the reason that some 
thdught it jiointed a way out of the county 
difficulties (which it did six years later) and 
was carried by a majority of 625 in the Avhole 
county, out of a total vote of 2,680, It failed 
in ado|ition by the state, however, on account 
(if conditions with which it was burdened, and 
it was not until five years later that the gen- 
eral desire to change the original constitution 
of 1818 was pressed to a successful result. 

The democratic candidate for governor, A. 
W. Snyder, of St. Clair county, died shortly 
after his nomination, and Judge Thomas Ford, 
a foi-mer resident of Quiney, was selected in 
liis stead. Against him the whigs p\it up Josej)]! 
Duncan, who luid been elected governor in 18:5-1 
and had served as a member of congress for 
several years earlier. There was also in the 
field an abolition state ticket. The whigs nomi- 
nated for the legislature O. 11. Browning. A. 
•Tduas. R. P. Starr. Peter B. Garrett and Alex 
Fruit, all of whom, with the exception of Fruit, 
were elected by majorities ranging from 150 
to WO. the feeling in regard to the coiinty seat 
nuitter making this ])artly personal and caus- 
ing a gi'cat latitude in the vote, although really 
none of the candidates on cithei" side were pub- 
licly supported with refei-ence to this issue. 
The democratic nominations wcic .\. Wheat, 
Wm. Laughlin. Jacob Smith. J. llendrickson 
and W. Sympson. Of these ilr. Wheat only was 
chosen. The whigs elected their full county 
ticket. W. II. Tandy as sheriff, over Thos. Jas- 
per, and Jonas fJrubb as governor, over J. J. 
Jones. Duncan, for governor, carried the coun- 
ty over Ford by a majority of 155 in a vote of 



2.!)l)5. tlie abolition ticket receiving 75 votes. 
This was the last time up to this date (1886) 
that the county has given anything but a demo- 
cratic majoiity on the state or presidential 
ticket. 

The county seat (pieslion. which was still 
hanging unsettled in I lie courts, was a con- 
stant subject of irritatiuL;- discussion among the 
people all tlirdugh the \car. A newspaper, the 
People's Organ, was started in Quiney, advo- 
cating the retention of the county seat here, 
and a paper was also iMd)lished in Columbus, 
advocating the removal, yet the only distinct 
issue made at the polls on this rpiestion was in 
the election of Wm. Kichards. who had been 
nominated for county commissioner as the 
Quiney candidate, by 180 majority over J. Tur- 
ner, who represented the Columbus interest. 
Singidarly enough, so far as the legislative 
candidates were concerned, although they were 
known to have diverse and decided views in 
r\gard to this issue, it was tacitly kept quiet, 
altliough it undoubtedly atfected the votes that 
Aiere cast for them. 

This contest broke over the iron lines of 
;)arty, .split many personal friendships and shiv- 
ered the popular power of not a few prominent 
men who became unfortunately misplaced in 
the struggle. Frecpieiit meetings were held 
over the county and broad latitude of personal 
ilisjiutation was not uncommon. Newspapers 
were started especially devoted to this issue. 
Public and private crimination was frequent. 
It was an especially good time for the wags 
and satirists to shoot at their selected game. 
A hot controversy ensued over the validity of 
a b(uul of .$75,000 given by the Columbiis pai'tj' 
to insure the erection of the necessary public 
buildings at that place. 

(I11 this question the two leading lawyers of 
the county dittered widely. Browning pro- 
nounced the bond defective. Williams, who 
then lived in the south(>ast part of the ccumty, 
said tliat it was good, or it might be made so. 
After a six months' canvass the election came 
off on the 2d of August and out of a vote of 
'.]Ax] ( 'dhuubus claimed to have succeeded by 
91 majority. 

There were over twn hundred more votes 
polled ui)on this question than at the sauu> time 
were cast in the congressioiud contest. 

The county commissioners i-eeorded the result 
as above, anti Quiney at once api)ealed. The 
eonuuissioners. although they had declared the 
result of the election, did not. as the law re- 
quiied them to do. remove the otliees to Colum- 
bus. A mandamus was applied for and Judge 
Douglas, who was then on the bench of the cir- 
cuit court, oi'dered, on the 6th of September, 



84 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



a eoniplianee by the comniissiouers 'with the 
pre.st'i-iptions of the law. The commissioners, 
howe\'er. who had each his own iudividual as 
well as official opinion and interest in the mat- 
ter, found an easy way "how to do it." Two 
of them, Eli Seehorn and Wm. Richards, fa- 
vored Quincy as the county seat, while the third 
one, George Smith, was a Columbus man. Con- 
sequently, at the several sessions of the board 
while Smith always attended, Seehorn and 
Richards only attended alternately and the 
consequence was that at each meeting there 
was a tie vote. The question was thus worried 
along during the season imtil in the following 
year it assumed a new shape which finally 
resulted in a temjiorary division of the county. 

The present valuable and prospering Quincy 
Library dates its continuous existence from this 
year. A similar institution had been created 
in 1837-38, based mainly on the voluntary con- 
tribution of books by those who saw fit to spare 
them. This plan proved too weak to endure, 
and within a year or two the enterprise was 
abandoned, or perhaps, might be said to have 
s\ispeuded. since the same parties who composed 
it afterwartl united in forming the present 
organization. The books, etc., on hand were 
returned so far as could be to the donors. 

In March. 1841. the project was revived and 
an association made Avhich was j^erfected in 
October by being incorporated under an old 
state law of 18:23, relating to public libraries. 
It opened on the 18th of April with but "a beg- 
garly accoiuat of empty" shelves, and in very 
luipretentious quarters, but by the close 
of the year it reported an accumulation 
of 735 volumes, and these were very well 
selected for a foundation stock. Its subsequent 
growth, ihough slow, has been healthful and 
now in the forty-third year of its existence it 
contains over 7,000 well-chosen publications. 

A course of winter lectiu'es, under the man- 
agement of the library, twelve during each sea- 
son, was connneneed in December and con- 
tinued for many years. For the first few years 
the lectures were given by resident professional 
men and they constituted the special pleasant 
attraction of the winter during the period 
when, the river being closed, home resources 
had to be drawn upon for enjoyment and also 
added to the revenue of the association. There 
had been a small circulating library kept at the 
bookstore of W. D. Skillman for two or three 
years past. 

Until this time the council meetings had been 
held either in the courthouse, or latterly, at the 
private office of the mayor or the clerk. A 
r'oom was now rented on the west side of the 
public S(|uare. near the ciu'uer of Elaine street. 



which was furnished and fitted up to be exclu- 
sively used as a clerk's office and council room, 
and lor general city purposes. 

The first meeting of the city council was 
held on the 23d of October, and the place con- 
tinued to be thus occupied for several years. 

In June of this year wei"e ordered and issued 
the fir.st "copper plate" engraved city bonds. 

The work of macadamizing the public land- 
ing rrom Hampshire to ilaine street was begun 
in November and finished in IMarch. 1842. 
Hampshire street had already been nmcada- 
mized from the public square to Front street 
and Maine street had been partially cut through 
the blufl'. 

A seciuid military company, eomjiosed of Gei'- 
mans, the Yagers, made its appearance with a 
large organization, Avhich continued for sev- 
eral years. 

The first soda water fountain was started 
by Dr. Bartlett, who had then the leading drug 
store of the place. 

Two semi-weekly packets regularly ran from 
St. Louis to Keokuk on alternate days and 
there was a daily line of packets between St. 
Louis and Galena, beside which two or three 
transient steamers passed each day on their 
way to Galena and Dubuque and occasionally 
to above those points. 

The great mining industries in tlie north- 
western corner of the state and in southern 
Wisconsin, which shipped all their lead product 
by river, railroads not yet having come into 
existence, caused a great demand for .steam- 
boat transportation by light draught boats on 
the upper ilississippi during the navigable sea- 
son. There were then probably twice as many 
through steamboats plying on the upper Missis- 
sippi as there are at the present date. Eleven 
hundred arrivals of steamboats were reported 
for the year 1841, which is probably a nearly 
correct figiu-e. 

There was reported at the same time .$326,000 
sales of merchandise : 50.000 barrels of fiour 
manufactured: 250.000 bushels of wheat: 95.000 
of corn : 50.000 of oats : 5,000 of beans, shipped 
away, and 12,000 hogs and 900 beeves packed. 
At the same time there were reported to be 
foiu" common schools, containing 687 scholars, 
and five private schools, with 200 scholars. 

The Adams County ^ledical Society held its 
first annual meeting on the 12th of April. A 
colonization society, one of the many that had 
been formed tln'oughout the countrj^ to encour- 
age the emigration of blacks to Liberia, and 
as a partial foil to what was thought to be 
the injurious infiuence of the abolition societies, 
held a second meeting on the 4th of January. 
The society did not long exist. The Quincy 



PAS'I' AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



85 



Ai'uu.s, successor to liuuiily Laiiu Uugister, tlic 
oldest paper in the place, foiinded in 1835, sus- 
l>(Mi(led on the l!)th of June, and on the 2:}d of 
Septeinber was reissued with a cluuiire of name. 
as the Quinc-y Ileivild. under which luiiiic it has 
since been and is now i)ul)lishc(l. 

Tlie foundation nt' our present a(lniira])h» 
school .system was laid durin<;' this year, not 
in 1842 as has been erroneously stated and sup- 
posed. Ft is a mattei" of reuret that a com- 
plete history of the juihlic schools of Quiney 
from their first ince|)tion has not been wi'itten. 
Such a reeord would be of exceeding interest 
now and to thi' I'uture also be replete with 
Valium It could delineate the difficulties that 
coiifriiufed these institutit)iis at the very begin- 
iiiug and afterward, beset as they then were 
by an extensive and bitter i)re.iutlice, also 
utterly without moneyed means and having no 
corporate provision for their support. The free 
school system had not yet become a permanent 
juiblie policy. Still less did it possess the faeili- 
ties that it now happily enjoys. A compilation 
of this character, which would depict with more 
or less minuteness the varying fortunes of the 
city schools throughout the past forty-two years 
as they have been affected by state and local 
legislations; by public opinion, by management, 
sometimes competent and faithful and some- 
tiiiu's careless, and the gradual growth to the 
present propoi-fions might be prepaT'ed. But 
all this would have to be glerned from scattered 
fields, jiartly foinid in the brief proceedings of 
the council, but mainh^ from the records of 
the school board, which occasionally Avere scant, 
and the earlier portion of which wei'e rpiite 
carelessly kept and sometimes yet more care- 
lessly lost or destroyed, and also to a large 
extent from the recollections of those who were 
then personally associated or interested. Of 
these all the members of the council and most 
of the prominent citizens who favored the ca>ise 
of the .schools are dead (1886). 

The first teacher in the male depail inciil, Mr. 
Dayton, ami the first also in the femsde depai't- 
ment. ^Frs. Webster, are still living MSSIV) and 
resident here. 

I'rioi- to this period and for six years later 
the authority over the schools lay legally in 
the hands of the school commissioner of the 
county aiul the trustees of the districts adjoin- 
ini:- and embracing the city, Quincy being made 
a sejiarate school district in 1847. Fortunate 
it was that a thorough accord between these 
county officials and those of the city existinl 
durinir this entii-e time, and while the nominal 
direction came from the school trustees, the 
actual support and influence came from the 
council, which appointed an animal visiting 



committee ^ which, however, had no real au- 
thority) and provided by appropriations, etc., 
for the school supjiort. The initial steps in these 
matters had been taken by the council in the 
j)revious year, but they had but little to go 
(Ui. and were groping almost in the dark. The 
])ublic, however, were widely awaking to the 
importance of the subject and pressing it 
strongly forward. In these sketches can only 
be given a skeleton statement of the progress 
of this matter each year — ju.st so much as it 
attaches to and beconu>s a part of the gen- 
eral current history of the city. 

A ])roposition was passed by the council in 
July to rent the old Congregational church 
(God's Barn) on Fourth street, and the Metho- 
dist church on Vermont for school purposes. 
So far all was well, but it was found neces- 
sary to have the co-operation of the school au- 
thorities of the county and at a subsequent 
meeting in August a committee consisting of 
Dr. Ralston (M'hose special and earnest work 
in the cause entitle him to be called, if any one 
should, the father of our public schools) and 
Mr. Abbe \vere ai)pointed to confer with the 
school trustees. An immediate conference was 
held aiul upon the report of this committee 
on the following week a resolution was passed 
by the council "that if the board of trustees 
would establish and maintain for one year from 
the 4th of November a .system of common 
schools extensive enough to accommodate all 
the children of the city of Qniney, the city 
would appropriate for the rent of two rooms 
•iilfio. payable quarterly; also any sum not over 
$:50() to fit u|i such rooms; also for salary of 
teachers, .^800, in semi-annual payments, and 
that it should be the [jolicy of the city to appro- 
priate from time to time what might be neces- 
sary to maintain these schools." 

So inadequate, however, seemed the means 
and so nnich questioned was the authority for 
such action the part of both council and trus- 
tees that public saiu'tion of their course was 
called for. and at a bngely attended public 
meeting held at the coui-fhouse on the 14th of 
Septembei-. Mhere the whole matter was fully 
discussed, it was resolveil that it was "pru- 
dence"" ami "justice" to establish a "■perma- 
nent system of common schools inniu'diately," 
and that the boai-d of trustees foi- schools be 
insti-ucted "to accept the proposition of the 
city council in whicli they propose to hire suit- 
able rooms and to a])propi-iate .$800 and with 
the funds now in thcii- hands to innnediately 
establish a permaiuMit .system of connnon 
schools in this city." At another meeting on 
the 18th the same resolutions, slightly varied, 
were again adopted. 



86 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



The board uf school trustees, of towuship 2 
south, 9 west, were somewhat slow to act, but 
on the 27th of November they accepted the 
propof?itions of the council and established 
three school districts, all north of ilaiue street 
being the first, all south of ilaiue extending so 
as to include sections It). 11 and 12 comprising 
the second, and all south of that, the thii'd, the 
east line of the township (what is now Twenty- 
fovirth street) being the eastern boundary. The 
council was prepared to promptly act, and 
schools were ordered to be, and were opened 
on the 4th of December, one in the ]\Iethodist 
church "for large girls from all parts of the 
district," one in the basement of the Baptist 
church "for small girls and boys from district 
No. 1," one in the Congregational church "for 
large boys" and one in the Satt'ord schoolroom 
on Fifth south of Jersey "for small girls and 
boys of district No. 2, all children residing 
in Quincy between five and twenty years of age 
free, but others in the town.ship to pay tuition 
fees unless remitted by the council."" They 
were all well crowded. The above gives, in 
brief, the action attending the founding of our 
public schools and the manner of their manage- 
ment when opened in December. They con- 
tinued, as before stated, to be run in a sort of 
partneriship between the city and county school 
officials for the foUoAving six years. 



CHAPTER XX. 

1842. 

NAVIGATION OPENS EARLY. PUBLIC SCHOOL 
TAX. ENOCH CONYERS, MAYOR. BUSINESS 
STATEMENT. MAIL FACILITIES IMPROVE. AGI- 
TATION OF SLAVERY QUESTION. BURR. V^'ORIv 
AND THOMPSON SENT TO PENITENTIARY FOR 
ABDUCTING NEGROES FROM MISSOURI. ABO- 
LITIONISTS ORGANIZE POLITICALLY. DR. 
EELLS. THE FOREIGN VOTE. STRUGGLE OVER 
THE COUNTY SEAT QUESTION. THE SILK 
WORK FEVER. GOOD SLEIGHING. 

During the very mild winter of 1^41-42 the 
(Tiver did not completely close at Quincy and 
navigation was practicable throughout the en- 
tire season. Open water — or "easy boating." 
as steamboat men were wont to term it when- 
ever the river was even with its banks and 
free from ice obstruction — came now unusually 
early in the upper ^Mississippi. Indeed, it may 
be said to have come rather too early for the 
business interests of the place. 

Twenty-nine steamboats, among them several 
of th3 great "New Orleans lioats." were regis- 



tered as arrivals during the two weeks, includ- 
ing March 21st and April 4th. This was an 
unprecedented token of business activity at so 
early a period and resulted in the early ship- 
ment of a large proportion of the packed pro- 
vision and stored grain that had accumulated 
during the winter, making the after part of the 
season comparatively dull. 

The cereal yield throiighout this section and 
the west generally was above the average in 
quantity, so much so as to cause prices to grade 
very low. Wheat sold in July at from 37 to 
40 cents per bushel and in Septem1)er the price 
had fallen to 31 cents. 

The public school system, wliich had been suc- 
cessfully inaugurated late in the preceding year, 
had worked well and been steadily growing in 
favor, yet the opposition to it was not as yet 
fully suppressed. The number of pupils, which 
was daily increasing, cannot be accurately 
given, but as an indication of their i^rosperity 
it may be stated that the leading and largest 
school, conducted by Mr. Dayton, with two 
a.ssistants, had an average attendance of about 
l.'iO scholars, and the number of pupils at the 
other schools was proportionately large. The 
city was still cramped in means for full support 
of the schools. A deficiency of $630.77 was re- 
ported at the end of the first year, and to par- 
tially meet this an appropriation of $300 was 
ordered by the council and a bond for $1,400 
fi'om which this $300 should be deducted was 
issued as a provision for the support of the 
schools to inin over and be applied to the ex- 
penses in 1843, 

At the same time steps were taken to obtain 
such an amendment to the city charter or addi- 
tional legislation that Avould provide for a sep- 
arate tax, to be independently assessed and ap- 
plied solely to school support. 

The movement in this direction brought out 
an expression of sentiment from the German 
])oini]ation, which was then and had been for 
a few years past greatly on the increase — that 
tended as much as any one thing could, to i>ut 
down op])osition to education and establish the 
lu'i-nianeui-e of the school system. 

An application Avas prepared, sanctioned by 
the city council and the school trufstees, for the 
assessment of a special tax for school purposes. 
A petition for the legislature Avas gotten up and 
circulated among the Germans in remonstrance 
against the aboA'e-named proposition and asking 
that (Jermans should be exempt from tlie impo- 
sition of a tax to support schools conducted in 
the English language. This evoked a public 
meeting of the Germans, Avith George Schul- 
theis as chairman and Charles Maei'tz. secre- 
tary. Avhich meeting resoh'ed that nnturalized 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADA.MS COrXTV. 



S7 



Germans were Americans aiul were fostered by, 
stood liy and expected to sustain and be i>ro- 
tected ami pay for the same laws as native born 
citizens. This decided and proper position 
talcen by the Germans stopped all demago^iiing 
in that direction and fixed the future of the 
pid)lic scliools. One or two i)nblic protests were 
made auainst this nu'ctiuir. but tliey ended in 
nothinu' and tlie parties soon would irladly have 
them forsiotten. It was not, however, until 
two or three years later, when, thnniiih the 
passage of a hiw authorizinij- the levy nl' a tax 
of one-ei,iihth of one per cent on the hundred 
for sciiool uses, that the s,vsteni assiiniccl ;in in- 
dependent strength. 

At the election in Ajiril the democrats elected 
all the city officers — Enoch Conyei-s as mayor, 
over II. Asbury. by 90 ma.iority: and Jolm B. 
Young, I. II. Ilolton and J. D. Jlorgan. alder- 
men, over H. V. Sullivan, George Chapman and 
G. B. Dimock. Later in the year John Abbe 
resigned. C. Swartont was chosen to succeed 
him as alderman from the First ward. The new 
council at its first meeting changed all the city 
officials. I. 0. Woodruff succeeding S. P. 
Church as city clerk. Dr. J. B. Conyers was 
appointed city physician, with an annual salaiy 
of $100 — "he agreeing to give the same to the 
schools." The salary of the mayor was fixed 
at $250, he also to attend to the duties of street 
superintendent, and that of the clerk at .$200. 
The city was reported as owing, on the 1st of 
Januaiy, $22,380. 

On the 16th of April, by ordinance, a com- 
plete system of grades of streets througlio\it 
the city was established, embracing all from 
Broadway to State, and in past farther south. 
and from Front to Twelfth (then called AVood 
street). This was the first comprehensive plan 
of action in regard to city grades that had been 
adopted, and though slightl.v changed occasion- 
ally, since on almost every street has been ad- 
hered to. 

A carefully compiled special census of 
Qnincy, taken dui-ing this year, reports the 
population to have been 2,686. The other data 
secured at this time are of peculiar value for 
the reason that they indicate the business con- 
dition of the place more in detail than apjicai's 
in an.v similar schedule of earlier date. 

The report shows that the city then con- 
tained 46-1: frame. 138 hriek and two stone 
buildings — the committee not seeing fit. per- 
hajis being too i)roud. to make mention of the 
more nunu'rous log houses: there were also 20 
dry goods, 19 groceries, 1 book. 1 hide and 
leather, 1 iron. 2 shoe, 2 milliner. 3 drug stores, 
9 hotels. 8 boarding-houses, 9 churches (there 
were several societies without a church build- 



ing), 1 reading-room, 20 lawyers, 12 physicians, 
1 dentist, 1 government and 3 private land of- 
fices, 3 insurance offices or agencies, 2 connnis- 
siou houses, 6 i)oi-k houses, 2 bakeries, 2 bath- 
houses, 1 ropewalk, 1 tanyard, 4 brickyards. 1 
iron foundry, 1 market house, 3 lundjer yards, 
;} brewei-ies, 1 woolen mill, 1 castor oil and 2 
.soap factories, 1 shingle mill. 2 water mills, 3 
steam Hour and 2 steam sawmills, 2 hatters. 11 
shoemakers. 4 watchmakers, 2 gunsmiths, 6 
house and sign paintei-s, 6 masons, 6 phvsterers. 
9 chair and cabinet, 12 carpenters, 10 wagon 
and coach. 12 blacksmiths, 4 saddle and har- 
ness, 3 barbers, 11 tailors. 7 butchers, 7 coojier 
sho])s, 2 i)rinting offices. 

There were two regular weekly newspapers, 
the Whig and the Herald, the latter also semi- 
weekly, and during the sununer and fall there 
was issued a spicy paper, the People's Organ, 
advocating Qnincy as the county seat or the 
division of the ccunity. 

The amount of ])rovisions prepared was about 
the same as in the preceding year, 12,000 hogs 
being packed, and the milling business was also 
about the same; the mills shipped away nearly 
25,000 barrels of flour. 

Mail facilities had improved. The two east- 
ern semi-weekly stages now came in as tri- 
weeklies on alternate days, making it practi- 
call.v a daily mail, although not always afford- 
ing the earliest news. In addition to these there 
were two mails carried north, one south and 
one we.st into Missouri. 

The "hard times" that had commenced with 
the financial crash in 1836-37 caused by the ]iar- 
tlsan destruction of the Fnited States bank and 
the suspension of most of the other banks in 
the country, continued as before, and, indeed, 
it was not until three or four years later that 
business here or anywhere in the countrv came 
to a condition of assured confidence and pros- 
perit.v. The debtor class was very numerous 
and still struggling xuider the prostration of 
half a dozen years, iloney was fearfully 
scarce. State bank and Shawneetown bank pa- 
per, which had been the chief currency of the 
state in times past, was now at a discount of 
from 36 to 40 cents and most all other bank cir- 
culation was proportionatel.v discredited. Econ- 
omy such as woidd seem niggardl.v during the 
past thirty years was universally pi-acticed, and 
under these there came a slow but substantial 
iucr(>ase of po])idation and advance of prospei'- 
it.v. both in the city and county. 

Thei-e was more than the usual amount of 
local ])uhlic excitement throughout the year, 
growing out of the agitation of the slavery 
fpiestion and also from the dift'erences over the 
proposed division of the coinitv, which last 



88 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



issue had arisen as the natural seqiieut of the 
bitter and as yet unsettled county seat quar- 
rel of the preceding year. These excitements 
entered into the elections and the courts, af- 
fected business and social relations and were 
productive of much and long-lasting acriiiumy 
and estrangement. The feverish feeling created 
at the time of the Nelson disturbances several 
years before, though somewhat suppressed still 
festered in the minds of the border people in 
the ad.jpining state and a similar sensitiveness 
pervaded to a considerable extent our own com- 
munity. It was kept al've by its own distrust- 
fulness and by the occasional escape of a slave, 
who was always suspected — with perhaps more 
or less of truth — of having been persuaded to 
run away, or afterward being harbored and 
hid by the abolitionists of Quincy. 

In the pi-evious year, 1841, three young men, 
Burr, Work and Thompson, students at Dr. Nel- 
son's Mission institute, some two miles east of 
Quiuey, crossed the river a short distance south 
of the city and had not long landed before they 
were arrested under the charge of abducting 
or attempting to abduct slaves. They were 
speedily tried, convicted and sentenced to the 
Missouri penitentiary for a term of twelve years 
each. That they went over there for that jjur- 
pose is more than probable, but it is still more 
certain that legal proof was wanting to sustain 
the charge against them, and this fact, added 
to a general suspicion that they in their rather 
too verdant philanthropy had been decoyed 
across the river for the purpose of being caught, 
brought about their pardon and release from 
the prison when their periods had about one- 
third expired. This, however, with other like 
occasional actions, kept sentiment on the sla- 
very subject constantly on the alert. 

At a meeting held in Quincy on the 13tli of 
June the abolitionists of the county resolved to 
organize jiolitically and bring out a county 
ticket. They nominated for representatives to 
the legislature R. Sartle, Levi Stillman, Lewis 
Rowe, Wm. Wells and Richard p]els: county 
commissioner, 11. H. Snow; sheriff, E. II. Fow- 
ler; coroner. Edward Turner. This, altluuigh 
the numerical strength at the polls was shown 
to be very small, yet drew the question into no- 
tice like the flaunt of a red flag to their foes, 
and their actions were closely scrutinized, both 
here and across the river. An anti-abolition 
meeting was held at the courthouse Avhich de- 
nounced in vigorous language the enticing 
away of slaves or their concealment. Shortly 
after the election (sometime in October) a slave 
swam across the river, got into comnnmication 
with some of his colored brethren and was 
taken under the protection of Dr. Richard Eels. 



a prominent ijhysician of the city, living then 
on Jersey between Fourth and Fifth streets. 
The doctor took the fugitive in his buggy at 
night after giving him a change of clothing 
and started for the country. He was followed 
by the ]\Iissourians and others Avho had obtained 
traces of them and tinally the doctor was 
pressed so hard that he dismissed his passenger 
and told him to make for the cornfields, which 
the poor fellow did, but was soon caught and 
carried back to slavery. The doctor got back 
safely, but unfortunately there were found two 
proofs against him in addition to the partial 
recognition of himself and his horse. There 
were in the buggy the still wet clothes in which 
the man had swam the river, and also the dry 
garments which the man had on when taken, 
the ownership of which was traced to the doc- 
tor. Eels was tried in the Adams county court 
under the then existing fugitive slave law of 
the state and was convicted and fined. This 
decision was sustained by the supreme court of 
the state and of the United States. This case 
commencing this year and continuing for sev- 
eral years, attracted much attention every- 
where, from the importance of the issues in- 
volved, and was the cause of especial interest 
here from the prominence of the man who was 
under trial. This revived much of the former 
feeling of distrust between the neighboring sec- 
tions, which only slowly wore away as all of 
the slaves here in northeastern ^Missouri who 
wanted to. gradually ran away, as they easily 
could, but was not fully allayed until the civil 
war put an end to it. 

The political record of 1S42 was of a very pe- 
culiar cast. It .singularly illustrated the strong 
predominance of partisan feeling and old party 
associations over the demands of local duty 
and interest. The two parties — the whig and 
the democratic — were almost equally balanced 
in the city and in the county. 

They had been so for many years past — the 
whigs having slightly the superiority, owing in 
a great measure to the higher relative stand- 
ing and capacity of the men whom they placed 
before the jiublic as their representatives and 
leaders. A reference to the politically promi- 
nent men of forty and more years ago will fully 
sustain this statement. Yet, usually any ordi- 
nary local issue, or as it more often happened, 
tlie personal popularity or itherwise of a can- 
didate, would easily determine an election and 
overrule party action. The special strength of 
the democratic party lay almost exclusively 
for a number of years on what was known as 
the "foreign vote." 

A curious exemplification of this was proven 
by Judge Lott and the writer in 1848 from an 



I 'AST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUXTY. 



8g 



oxjiiiiiiMition (if llu' iioll Ixioks lli;il h;iil hern 
used at the eleetious of that yeai'. That was 
the last year of elections "viva voce." The bal- 
lot system of voting ordained in the later 
state eonstitutions was not in existence at 
that lime, and tirst was used in the fall of 
1848. Previous to that perioil ail voting M'as 
done openly and aloud. A register was ])re- 
jiared by the .judges cont;iining the names of 
all suppos(>(l candidates under the head of the 
otrice to which they aspired and each voter as 
he came 1(i the ])o]ls would give in his name, 
have it written clown and then announce suc- 
cessively who he voted fur. His vote thus 
given would be tallied on the line containing 
the name of the candidate for whom he voted. 
Thus the poll book was the final "return" and 
not only coidd it be known afterward how each 
man had voted, but also how the vote was pro- 
gressing during the day. Judge Loft had said 
that "out of the one thousand and fifty votes 
that had been cast at that time it woidd be 
found that less than one-fourth of those who 
had voted the democratic ticket were native 
born, and that it had been nearly so in propor- 
tion for several years past." On examining the 
])oll book it appeared that out of five hundred 
and sixty democratic voters less than one hun- 
di'ed had American names. The curious corol- 
lary to this is that through the earlier years 
of the city the foreign vote generally con- 
trolled: and it was especially strong for the 
reason that naturalization at that time was not 
a ner'cssary (pudilication for a state voter, since 
luuler the old constitution and until 1848 any 
white male citizen over twenty-one years of age, 
and who had been in the state six months, was 
a qualified voter, whether naturalized or not. 
This fact is a worthy matter of record, as it 
has had a strong bearing upon the municipal 
fortiuies of the city. The foreign immigration 
which poured so extensively aftei" 18.Sr)-:^6 into 
Qnincy, instinctively enlisted in the democi-atic 
ranks and constituted f'oi- nuniy years its chief 
strength. 

Recurring to the statcmi'iit niadc alinvc 11i;it 
political affairs during this year had a pecu- 
liar cast, it is somewhat strange that although 
there was before the peojile the most important 
and absorbing local issue that they have ever 
had — that of the removal of the county seat — 
yet party nominations wei-e nuide and sti'ife 
went on as usual without any special formation 
upon this question that affecfed the jiarties. 

The vote, it will be remendiered, in 1841 was 
declared to be in favor of Columbus. The 
county commissionei's neglected to order the 
removal of the county records. A inandamus 
was ap]ilied for and granted, directing them 



to coiiiply with the 1;l\v. but they still evaded 
it and (^iiinry had appcalrd from the declared 
result. 

Thus the sectional rivalry between the two 
claimants to the jiossession of the county seat 
had at this time become a legal issue — to be 
determined by the courts, and dependent upon 
the "glorious uncertainties of the law." By 
the delay thus secured Qnincy was greatly the 
gainer. Columbus canu; into court fortified by 
the record ol' a legally ordered and formally 
held election and a certificate of a majority of 
the votes cast being in favor of removal, and 
that these figures and the formalities of the elec- 
tion were unquestioned. All beside this that 
was needed and demanded was that the comity 
commissioners should transfer the records and 
offices. Quincy, on the other hand, stood solely 
ujiou the I'efusal of the commissioners to issue 
the necessary order for removal, but there was 
added to this an assertion of illegalities in the 
election. While these never cajne to be fully 
liroven, they were so broadly charged and be- 
lieved and were tinged with so much of plausi- 
bility as to greatlj' cloud the question and 
make a decision upon it difficult and doubtful. 

It appeared, for in.stance, that at the August 
election in 1841, 2,978 votes were cast for mem- 
bers cf congress, while at the same time the 
vote on the county seat question was 3,181 — an 
excess of 203 votes. The Avell-known latitude 
that is usually allowed on a sectional vote, with- 
out question, in localities where the sentiment is 
all one way, gave credence to the suspicion and 
charge that this excess was illegal and that the 
majority of 91 obtained by Columbus was cast 
by uncpialified voters. This suspicion was 
sti'engthened when, a year later, at the August 
election in 1842. there were but 3,069 votes 
polled for governor in a very warndy eon- 
Tested election, and on the same day 1,574 votes 
were given for Wm. Richards (who represented 
The Quincy interest and was its candidate for 
re-election as county commissioner), and 1,393 
votes ea.st for J. Turner. th(> representative of 
Colinid)us. 30 votes being thrmvn away on the 
abolition candidate who was niqiledged. Here 
was a falling oft' within a year of nearly two 
hundred votes on this local test question, when 
it would seem that natural caTTses and the con- 
tiuTiing interest in the question wottM have 
increased the vote ; and, significantly, as it was 
claimed, the falling off was from the former 
Columbus vote. All this tended to weaken the 
claims for its removal. So stood the issue at 
the end of the year 1841. 

At their February meeting in 1842 the county 
commissioners' board had a full meeting, all 
were present and acted for the first tinu> for 



go 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



several months. Under the requirement of the 
mandamns issued by Judge Douglas in Septem- 
ber, 1841, they "agreed to disagree." Two of 
the board (Richards and Seehorn, a majority) 
decided that the result of the election was so 
doubtful that they would not obey the writ of 
the circuit court. The other commissioner, 
Smith, said that he was ready and willing to 
order the removal of the records. 

Thereupon Judge Douglas on the 4th of 
March issued a peremptory mandamus to the 
commissioners ordering their immediate action. 
Prom this Quiney at once appealed to the su- 
preme court, giving security, and the settlement 
of the case was. of course, still farther delayed. 
It was argued in the supreme coiu't in the July 
following liy George C. Dixon for the commis- 
sioners and Archibald Williams for the ('olum- 
bus claimants, and the decision was ordered 
deferred until December. 

Immediately after the August election of 1842 
the contest took a new shape and a bombshell 
M-as thrown into the Columbus camp which 
broke its imity and resulted in the full defeat 
of all its aspirations. At a meeting held in 
Quiney on the 26th of October the proposition 
was agreed to that the legislature should be 
asked to divide the county by cutting off the 
ten townships on the eastern side of Adams, 
and therefrom form a new coiinty. Columbus 
was asked to unite with this movement, but 
refused. In fact. Columbus could not safely 
agree to it for the reason that the town lies 
on the extreme western edge of the proposed 
new county — a part of it being in Gilmer town- 
ship, e':nd the village would thus be cut in two, 
and the same objection would then lie against 
Columbus as a county seat ("away at one side 
of the county") that had been before used 
against Quiney. 

This project stirred into activity every local 
interest in the county and proved that the pre- 
vious movement had not been based on a pref- 
erence for Columbus merely, but for a county 
center. A half score of plans were started for 
outlining new counties, most of them not favor- 
ing a division of the county, biit demanding, if 
a divi.sion of the county should be made, that it 
should be so outlined as to make a central 
point the county seat, most generally ignoring 
Columbus. Some of these j^roposed to take in 
part of Hancock, some part of Schuyler, and 
some part of Brown or Pike, and all seemed to 
have forgotten about Columbus. The end was 
not difficult to foresee. 

This movement, adroitly originated for a di- 
vision of the county, so as to compromise the 
differences between eastern and western sec- 
tions, practicall.v decided, at the very outset 



that the county .seat ultimately would remain at 
Quiney. Time had been gained, and the issue 
transferred itself again to the stat« legislature, 
which then convened evei\v two years on the 
first ]\Ionday in Decemljer. 

As early as the 19th of December, at the ses- 
sion of 1842-43, Mr. Wheat, one of the repre- 
sentatives from Adams county, introdiiced a 
bill for the division of the county, based upon 
the proposition which had been made and 
adopted at the meeting in Quiney on the 26th 
of October. 

Upon this there followed a Hood of petitions 
for and remonstrances against the proposed ac- 
tion, coming from all parts of the county with 
every variety of project, proposition and sug- 
gestion. It was made a matter of long, bitter 
and doubtful discussion, and came to a final 
determination in the early part of 1843, result- 
ing in a nominal division of the county, which 
separation stood as of a record which was never 
practically completed throughout the five fol- 
lowing years. 

]Mr. Wheat's action in this matter Avas not in 
accord with that of the other four representa- 
tives, and was not in sympathy with the popu- 
larities of the period, the public generally sus- 
taining those who were opposed to a division 
of the county, but it is a truth which no one 
now looking back to that contest can deny, 
that, however, it might have been operative 
upon the interests of Columbus or any other 
section of the county antagonistic to Quiney; 
so far as the city was concerned this movement 
which he drove through the legislature, to the 
jieril of personal popularity, was that which 
clinched the continuance of the county seat at 
Quiney for all time to come. This story of the 
county seat difficulties and the temporary divi- 
sion of the coiinty is a part of past history, upon 
Avhich depended the future interests of Quiney. 
It could be told in far more amplified detail, 
because it was the absorbing idea of its time. 
It was settled during the winter of 1842-43, but 
it had kindled passion and prejudice which may 
claim consideration in a subsequent chapter. 

Manufacturing interests during this year 
showed a steady and healthy progress not only 
in the enlargement and increase of a number 
of already existing iiulustries. but also in the 
establishment of several new enterprises. An 
iron foundry was started by James Adams and 
^lilton Worrell, on the east side of Front street, 
betAveen Broadway and Spring. This was the 
first establishment of the kind, the pioneer in 
busiiu'ss of a s|)ecial industry that has gradual- 
ly grown to be one of the most extensive and 
substantial factors in the pei'manent prosperity 
of the place. 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



91 



Aliinil tliL' .saim: time (). F. &. ti. A. ^Miller. 
wild Ii;mI as early as 1886 opened the first regu- 
lar (Iniu store in the place, built a castor and 
liiiscrd oil factory on the west side of Front 
street, opposite the Adams & Worrell factoiy. 
This was a few years later chaiijied into a steam 
Houi-iiijr mill. At this time the castor bean 
mania was oveisi)readiny the west, as exten- 
sively as had not a long time before the "Morus 
^Muilicaulis" or silk work fever, and as a little 
later came up the beet sugai' ci'a/.e. These all 
had their day :nul it is cui'ious now to revert to 
those times, wlien, for two or three years so 
many of our farmers set off and carefully 
planted four oi- five acres of the white mulberry 
or ^lorus ^lulticaulis. and after that sensation 
had fallen through, each one had next his acre 
or 7noi'e of the handsome Howei'ing castor bean; 
and still farther an. and but shortly afterward, 
all expectations were sweetened by the profuse 
cultivation of the sugar beet, which was to i-ival 
and exclude from \ise all tropical sugars, and 
all this unfortunately worked to the pai'tial 
neglect of the cultivation of the great staple 
cereals which are adapted to our latitude, cli- 
mate and soil. 

The winter of 1842-1:8 was unusually severe. 
The snow fall began early, and continued 
longer and more in amount probably than in 
any season since the proverbial "big snow" 
winter of 1881. Business and travel through- 
out the central and northern jiart of the stati' 
was for a large part of the winter tloue on sleds 
and sleighs. 

A sleighing pleasure party, foi' instance, left 
Quincy during this winter, visited Jacksonville 
and Sjjringtield and returned safely on run- 
ners, after being gone nearly two weeks. 



CTlAI'TEi; XXI. 
1843. 

K.\H'l'II(jr.\KK. POI^ITICAL STRUGGLES. DOUG- 
l..\S BROWNTXG. M..\RQUETTE COUNTY. 

.jriKJK UDTT. ('.APT. KELLV. R. M. YOUNG. 
SID.N'KV lUtlOKSR. DULL BUSINESS. Jl'DGE 
■I'llOM.AS. HIGHLAND COUNTY. NEW lUILD- 
INGS, NEW SCHOOLS. 

The river was unnsiially hiiiii duriim' the win- 
ter of 1842-48. and coulinued so until late in 
the year. It had closed on the first of Decem- 
ber, 1842, opened on the 24lh of Jaiuuiry fol- 
lowing, and until about the middle of FebiMiary 
there was some, thougii difficult navigation. It 
then fii'iuly closed, opening again on the fith of 
Api-il. and did not close during tlu' wintei' of 
1848-44. 



The rather uiuis\ial e.xcitement of an earth- 
(|uake shock occurred on the 4th of January, 
the heaviest that had been known for many 
years. .The rumbling was distinctly heard and 
the shaking of the ground and buildings felt 
aiul seen throughout all central Illinois. With 
the exception of a general scare and an occa- 
sioiud break of crockeiy, no damage was done. 
The city council early in the year, made an 
attempt to secure as a i)ublic landing, all of 
the river front lying south of Maine street, and 
west of a line parallel with Front street and 
eighty feet west. The consent of most of the 
owners of the projjcrty affected, to convey the 
same to the city was oblaiued, but some of them 
objected, and although the council on the Sth 
of July, declared the land in question a laud- 
ing, yet this summary course was indecisive and 
was not eventually sustained. 

The city election in 1848 result ed in the com- 
plete success of the democratic ticket. Enoch 
C'onyers was re-chosen nuiyor over ('apt. Joseph 
Artus, and Thomas Jasper, Samuel Holmes and 
H, S. Benneson, elected aldermen. Sam'l Leech 
was re-elected city clerk. An official statement 
made by the city clerk in Sejitember showed 
rathei- an unsatisfactory financial condition. It 
re|)orted au indebtedness of .t22,()98.50, of which 
$5,746.48 would mature during the year, and 
that the tax assessment of $4,089.14, if all ap- 
]ilied to this debt, would leave a deficit of 
$1,68(1.84. How the apprehended trouble was 
avoided, does not apjiear, probably, as in the 
later years, by postponement and hoping, Mi- 
cawber like, that something would "turn up." 
The salary of the city clerk was fixed at $100, 
showing either a commendable spirit of econ- 
omy, or that the duties of the office were not 
very heavy. II. S. Cooley, then a y(ning lawyer 
not long a resident of this city, who afterwards 
becanu' prominent politically, being secretary 
of state when he died, a few years later, was ap- 
pointed city attoi'uey. A special census taken 
by order of the council in Xovemlier in refer- 
ence to the school (juestion, which was still in 
a very unsettled state, gave a total population 
of 3,148 and of childi'eii uiidei' twenty years of 
age, in the city and adjoining section, which 
formed with Quincy a school district, 1,357. 

Some i)olitical feeling was temp(U-arily roused 
by a change in the postoffice. Ixobert Tillson, a 
whig, who had held the office for ten oi- twelve 
years, was removed and a Mr. Clifford, a Tyler- 
ite rnoii .\ltnii, apjiointed in his place, ^fajor 
\Vm. (J. Flood, and Samuel Iieech were re-ap- 
pointed respectively register and receiver of 
the public land office. Judge Douglas having 
been elected to congress, his place on the bench 
was (illed by the ap])riiiitment <if .Jesse P>. 



92 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



Thomas, Jr., a son of Jesse B. Thomas, who was 
one of the first two U. S. senators, from Illinois, 
and who is credited Avith being the author of 
the famous ilissouri compromise. Judge 
Thomas held this jtosition for about two years 
only, when he resigned and was succeeded by 
Norman H. Purple, whose term was ended by 
the new constitution in 18-18. 

This was in some measure a eomparativel.v 
quiet and slow business year, yet it was marked 
with an unusual degree of local feeling and ex- 
citement. The old abt)lition and ^lormon dis- 
turbances had been temporarily allayed, to re- 
appear, however, in the near future, but there 
remained the unsettled public school question, 
the strife over the county seat and county divi- 
sion matter. To these the most stirring con- 
gressional contest was added, that up to that 
period this section. (U-, indeed, the state had 
ever witnessed. 

The political i-ecord of Quincy and of Adams 
county in 1843 is an episode, which demands a 
more than ordinary detail. It was the era of 
an entrance into nati<nial intluenee by the state 
of Illinois. This was on account of not only 
the increased representation of the state from 
three to seven members of congress, but also 
because such a number of younger men, of only 
state repute heretofore, struck out for a more 
extended reputation, which many of them 
fairly won. and maintained to the exclusion of 
the older politicians, who had for the twenty- 
five years held the representation of Illinois in 
the national councils. Out of the fourteen can- 
didates for congress in 1843 one only, Casey, 
had ever jireviously served, and only one other, 
Douglas, had even been a candidate for the 
honor. The political excitement was more in- 
tense than has ever attended any similar strife, 
scarcely excepting the famous discussion fif- 
teen years later between Doi\glas and Lincoln. 
The interest in the election lay in the congress- 
ional contests, there being at the time neither 
state nor national ticket in the field. It may be 
well to state that this year (18-13) was the last 
time that congressmen were elected in the odd 
numbered years. 

The next election came oft' in 18-14, and ever 
since, membei's of congress have been chosen 
in the even numbered years with state or jiresi- 
dential officials. Before this it sometimes hap- 
pened that a state would not be represented in 
the lower house of congress in case that a called 
session was held during the spring or sximmer 
of the odd year. The tei'm of a member be- 
gins on the 4th of March, although usually the 
session commences in December. Illinois was 
thus not represented at the early part of the 
called session of congress in 1841. 



I'nusual interest, of course, attached to an 
election which would determine who were to be 
the future "great men" of Illinois, and special 
attention was turned toward the Quincy dis- 
trict, which was of doubtful political complex- 
ion, and in which the two foremost of rising 
leaders in their respective parties were pitted 
in opposition. These were Stephen A. Douglas, 
the presiding .judge on this circuit, and 0. H. 
Browning, the admitted head of the bar in the 
western portion of the state, both residents of 
Quincy, as the contestants. Each enjoyed 
a jn-estige of almost unbroken political success, 
a most devoted party popularity and a personal 
reputation for consistency and integrity which 
was unassailable. They were nearly of the 
same age. Douglas had been a consjiicuous pol- 
itician fi-om his first coming to the state. Brown- 
ing. wh(ise eminence was more definitely legal, 
held an equally prominent political reputation 
and his ambitions were then strongly in that di- 
rection. He was, and no doubt correctly, con- 
sidered at the time as the most attractive and 
able debator of the two. Douglas, though strong 
on the .stump, had not attained that peculiar 
position he studied for and afterward attained, 
of being, as he luiquestionably ranked in later 
years, the most popular and powerful stump 
.speaker of the day. Douglas was not the first 
choice of his party in convention. Judge Cav- 
arly, of Greene, and Gov. Carlin preceeded him 
in the early ballots, but the nomiiuition finally 
fell to him. Browning was nominated by his 
party without opposition. It is more than prob- 
able that had either of the tAvo first named 
above received the democratic nomination. 
Browning's populai'ity would have won for 
himself the election, and it is equally sure that 
against any other candidate than Browning, 
Douglas" majority of about 400 w(Uild at least 
have been doubled. They canvassed the dis- 
trict together most exhaustively during the 
early summer months to within less than a week 
before the election iu August, when both were 
taken down with sickness, which nearly proved 
fatal, and from the eft'ect of which, it took 
many months to restore them. This was the 
most complete carrying out of the old "stump 
speaking" custom that could be imagined. The 
parties traveled together, sometimes slept to- 
gether, spoke together almost daily at half a 
dozen or more j^laces in each of the counties. 
Such exertion naturally brought out an extra- 
ordinarily large vote. 

The result of this spirited contest, between 
two men whose names have since become na- 
tional, was that Browning carried the city by a 
majority of 19 and the county by 410. but was 
beaten in the district by 409 votes. It is curious 



PAST AND PKESEN'l' oK ADAMS CorXTY. 



93 



to s|iccul;iti' how (li'laycd iiiii;lil lia\c lici'ii the 
^rdwtli to ciniiience of .ludye Dous^las Imd lie 
failed at tills election. That hiss great talents 
wduld have sooner or later made themselves 
C'oiiti'ollinii- is true, but his advent to national 
notice at this peculiar time was several years 
gained in his movement to fame. 

In the county, ^larquette or the eastern [larl 
not counting, the democratic ticket generally 
■was successful, re-electing J. II. Ilolton. record- 
er, and Nicholas Wren, county clerk. J. V. Ber- 
nard contested the election of Wi-eu without 
success, but four years later had the satisfai-- 
tiiiii of being elected over his former o|)|)onent. 

At this August election of 184:^, e.xceiiting 
for members of congress, political lines were 
somewhat disregarded. Peter Lott, Timothy 
Kelly, Ebenezer ^loore and Henry Asbury were 
elected magistrates, all of them respected and 
cajiable men. The first two were democrats, 
the others whigs. Judge Lott was an able law- 
yer, who had creditably occupied the circuit 
bench, and was sub-sequently, in 1844, elected 
to the legislature, served as a captain in the 
Mexican war, was chosen circuit clerk in 1848, 
and at the end of his term receiving a federal 
api)ointinent, reinoviiig to the Pacific ("oast, 
where he died. Capt. Kelly was the most promi- 
nent Irishman of his day in Quincy, a man of 
enterprise and means. He built the "Kelly 
building" at the northeast corner of I\Iaine and 
Fifth streets, where is now the Dodd P>uild- 
iiig, which was at the time of its erection next 
to the Quincy House, the most pretentious struc- 
ture in the town. He enlisted in the Mexican 
Avar, became a lieutenant, and was killed while 
bravely fighting at Buena Vista, and his body 
was brought to Quincy, and buried with honor. 
Mr. ^foore. who had been twice chosen mayor 
and afterwards became a banker, was always 
among the leading men of the jilace. He re- 
moved to Washington some twenty years later 
and died there. 

Henry Asbury. the only one of the foui' now 
(188.3) living, was, for many years an especially 
efficient and popular magistrate, holding also 
at various times other imi)ortant luiblic trusts, 
and is the oldest living "E.squire" and proba- 
lily tile oldest licensed la^vA'er in the city. 

At the same time, there were chosen as con- 
stables. Cai)t. J. Scliwindlei'. an intelligent and 
inriiiential riernian. J. ^I. Pitman. Wilson Land 
and Wm. P. Reeder. Of these -'Billy" Reeder 
had been a constable from the earliest times, 
seeming to have a sort of sinecure claim to the 
place, like that of old Henry Jasper to the city 
marshalslii]i. Pitman was afterward twice 
chosen sheriff, four times mayor and once 
elected to the legislature. Tjane. yet living h(>re. 



snlisei|ucntly tilled llie ol'tiri' of sheriff and 
county treasurer. .Mention is made of these of- 
ficials" to show the substantial character of the 
men to whom public trusts, however, subordi- 
nate, were given in those days. In the earliest 
times it necessarily happened in a sparse popula- 
tion. that officials would sometimes be chosen 
of limited attainnients : later, (lualification was 
much more carefully looked to. far more than 
it has been since, when partisan dictum fur- 
nishes the candidate, and varnishes over the 
defects of the public servants. 

There was lull little change in the federal 
reiu-esentation of Quincy. Flood and Leech, as 
before stated, were reai)])ointed receiver and 
register of the [lublic laud office. These were 
then highly important and responsible posi- 
tions, and for them these two men were excep- 
tionally well fitted. The local feeling over the 
removal of Mr. Tillson, a whig, from the post- 
office, was mainly because, both whigs and dem- 
ocrats, felt that, when the change in the office, 
which all had expected, occurred, some Quincy 
democrat should be the lucky recipient, and not 
an imported stranger, hence both parties united 
in condemning the aiipointment. ilr. Clifford's 
position as |)ostmaster for a couple of years, 
was no "bed of roses." He was entii-ely alone. 
Vice-President Tyler, who succeeded on the 
death of President Harrison, had no support- 
ers in Quincy, and like Vice-President Johnson, 
who came in after President Lincoln, he ap- 
]ieared to be attemi)ting the construction of a 
jiolitical bridge which would carry himself and 
his administration over to the party that had 
not elected him, and although a temporary use 
was made of this bridge, yet at the end of the 
jiresidential term, both it and its projectors in 
both cases were ignored by the party they 
sought, as well as by the party they had aban- 
doned. 

Kichard 'M. Young, who had served for many 
years as circuit judge, and during the past six 
as r. S. Senator, was succeeded in this last of- 
fice by Sidney Breese, and with this his local 
connection with Quincy ceased. iMost of his after 
life was siUMit in ])iiblic ])ositions at Washing- 
ton, where he died, lie had been, in his various 
capacities, for many years, the most prominent 
personage of the place. He was an industrious, 
(>xemi)lary, pure minded man. of more than 
average ability as a jurist, and greatly re- 
spected in private life. On leaving the senate 
he was elected by the legislature to one of the 
vacant supreme judgships in the northern part 
of the state, which he held for a brief period, 
until he went to Washington. 

This was an exceiitioiiidly dull business year. 
Prices ranged very low. as told by figures in 



94 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADA:\rS COUNTY. 



tlie grain and provision market, which have 
been the general index to business. Wheat sold 
in June at 70 cents per bushel, in October at 
50, and 65 cents about the middle of Novem- 
ber. Flour during tlie year ranged from $3.75 
to $4.25 per barrel. There was among- the five 
or six mills a falling off in the manufacture of 
flour of several thousand barrels. The provision 
trade was similarly affected in prices, though 
the amount produced was somewhat increased. 
Pork opened at about $2.00, slightly increasing 
in price as tlie season advanced. By the middle 
of December 7.000 hogs had been packed, ciuite 
an increase in the product of the same period in 
the preceding year. 

Winter began early, coming in with an un- 
usually severe snowstorm on the 2J:th of Oc- 
tober, but the weather for the fii'st half of the 
season, was comparatively mild. 

A slight ripple of the slumbering pro and 
anti-slavery feeling occurred during the fall, 
and a county "anti-abolition" was held at ]Men- 
don on the 29th of September, followed on tlie 
3d of October by an abolition meeting. The 
abolition vote in the county at the August elec- 
tion was 137. and 230 in the congressional dis- 
tiet. 

The two contested election eases created at 
the August election, that of Barnard vs. Wren 
for county clerk, and of Conyers vs. Seehorn, 
for county commissioner, came up, on appeal, 
on the second of October in the circuit court, 
and were then and there exhaustively argued 
by the best talent of the Adams county bar. A 
very feverish feeling over these suits had every- 
where arisen, pai-tly because they blended some- 
what with the connty-seat strife, and also be- 
cause they had unavoidably assumed a semi- 
political coloring. Judge Thomas, the immedi- 
ate successor of Judge Douglas, on the latter "s 
election to congress, befare whom these issues 
Avere tried, finding this unexpected and awk- 
ward elephant in his path at the very threshold, 
prudently reserved his decision for three weeks, 
making a trip in the meantime to Springfield 
for the purpose, as it was ungenerously as- 
serted, of ascertaining whether his decision, 
either way given, would be sustained by the 
supreme coui't in the event of an appeal being 
taken from his court. On his return the de- 
cision was given, on the 25tli of October, in 
favor of the two democratic candidates, who 
had already received the certificates of elec- 
tion, to which they were probably entitled. It 
was scarcely fair to thus impugn the course 
of the big, easy-going jiidge, but his constitu- 
tional incertitude and decided partisanism gave 
plausibility to the charge. Whether his con- 
clusion was right or wrong, its force was thus 
much weakened, and his own standing also. 



This decision, like that of Judge Douglas, (to 
the effect that ilarquette, the new county, 
though as yet unorganized, remained as "at- 
tached to Adams for judicial purposes,") mix- 
ing with political interests, or being used by the 
IJolitician, gave still more complications tt) the 
county-seat quarrel. 

Judge Thomas was a very large, fat man, an 
extreme contrast to his recent predecessor, 
Douglas, and those unfriendly to him, said that 
the mental contrast was "invertedly equal." 
This was not just to the judge, who, though 
somewhat indolent and unstudious, was of re- 
spectable ability. As heretofore, with the ex- 
ception of Douglas, our judges had been for 
many years, home men, the appointment of 
Judge Thomas was not cordially regarded by 
some, his judicial course was prejudicially 
viewed and he was soon transferred to another 
circuit. 

Two "county seat question" campaign papers 
sprang up during the season, one published at 
Columbus, the other at Quincy. They ended life 
with the election. The Herald, the oldest news- 
paper in this section, suspended on the 19tli 
of August, caused by that chronic complaint, 
indigenous to w^estern journals, pecuniary 
inanition. It resumed on the 6th of October 
under the editorial control of E. A. Thompson, 
whose management during the following 
months of high political and local excitement 
was more amusing than satisfactory. The 
Whig was thus for a brief time the only reg- 
ularly pulilished newspaper in the county. 

The bill for a division of Adams county 
became a law in February, after having passed 
through a most prolonged and exhaustive con- 
test in both houses of the legislature. It 
created a county called Marquette, which sub- 
sequently was named Highland, formed from 
the ten townships on the eastern side of the 
county. The bill ordained that there should be 
an election held on the third day of April for 
county officers, so as to complete the organiza- 
tion. There had been at home as well as in 
the general assembly, a sectional strife over 
this matter during the entire winter. The 
whole eastern part of the county was averse to 
a separation, especially when, as in this case, 
it was made without the consent of the people 
who were to be thus expatriated. The western 
portion, on the other hand, the city included, 
was equally united in behalf of a division. 
Very large and earnest meetings were almost 
daily held in various parts of the county, 
wherein there was much crimination, and after 
denunciation of the county representatives at 
Springfield, wherever their action had not ac- 
corded, with the local wi.sh. Especially severe 
was the popular stricture from the eastern part 



I'AST AM) PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



95 



III' llu' i-diiiily ayainst llie ai-tioii \vlii<-li I'lirccd 
llu'iu to secede eoiitrary to their desire, and it 
was persoually leveled at those representatives 
wlu) had refused to allow the question to be 
siibinitted to a popular vote. No small number 
of aspirinu' jiolitical reputations went to wreck 
i)efore this sweepiufi- stoi'm. Brownintr. almost 
alone of the prominent public nuMi. manaji'ed 
to come out unscathed, lie delivered an ad- 
dress on the 27tli of January to a very larpre 
meeting in Quiney, in which he vindicated his 
action in opposition to the division, lie showed 
that tlioui;li this course was iu conflict with the 
wishes of bis innnediate nei<zhboi-s and lionic 
friends, and also adverse to his own ]>crsiinal 
interests, yet that he was pledged thereto and 
was also bound by a remonstrance against a 
division containing 1.925 signatures, while all 
lietiti(uis in its favor footed up but 1.798 sub- 
scritiers. This bold, frank position added much 
to ]\lr. Browning's jjojiular strength, as was 
shown in the surprising nia.jority by which he 
carried the county at the congressional election. 

The election for county officers prescribed in 
the law creating jMarqnette county, to be held 
on the 8rd day of April. Avas less than a farce. 
It was a mdlity. It did not come off. With 
a singular unanimity of sentiment, everybody 
agreed not to vote, and, of course, the county 
remained unorganized. There was thus pre- 
sented the singular situation, for several years, 
of a conuiinnity claiming all their jiolitical 
rights and exercising only such as they chose 
to. contesting and voting on state and iiational 
issues, but utterly refusing to act on county 
matters. This was comparatively easy to do 
for the reason that at that time votes under 
the viva voce system could be cast at any pre- 
cinct in the county. The ^Marquette men on 
the day of the election would come over in 
crowds to Payson or Gilmer or anywhere across 
the line into Adams and there vote for presi- 
dent, congressmen and governor. This con- 
tinued for some three years. The entire failure 
to have even the form of an election on the 
third of April as the law required was a point 
strongly urged to establish the nullity of the 
entire law, as it was claimed that an election 
and organization on that specially prescribed 
date was an essential, and that with a failure 
in this feature, the law failed. 

Time brought along a partial accommodation 
to the condition of things, but not a wholly 
cordial acquiescence thei'ein. 

The two decisions heretofoi-e referred to. 
were constant sources of irritation, since they 
inevitably came \\\^ to thought at every electiiui 
and evei'y cession of the circuit coui't. They 
involved f|uestions tluit had to be met and de- 



cided, as they were promptly perhaps correctly, 
yet they were continually striven over. The 
decision given by .Judge Thomas, because it 
touched upon the election privileges of the peo- 
ple, the most sensitive of all public subjects, 
was the most criticised, and yet strictly under 
the law. looking back to it in later times, it 
ap|>ears more neai'ly correct than it then was 
felt to be. 

The legislature had c.Kcludctl the eastern por- 
tion of Adams county from any participation 
in the local affairs of what continued to be 
Ad:ims county, aiul this was the law as npheld 
by Thomas. The other decision, that of Judge 
l)ouglas. to the effect that the citizens of what 
Avas called Marquette county, remained at- 
tached to Adams for all judicial purposes, 
seemed valid both in reason and necessity. The 
territory embraced Avithin the bounds of the 
contemplated county, had been largely placed 
iu this judicial circuit, and its political posi- 
tion only had been afterAvard ordered to be 
changed, leaving its judicial associations un- 
Touched. It stood in fact as did in foj-mer 
A ears. Hancock and some of the other counties 
of the state, AA-hich, though established by 
boundaries. Avere on account of scant popula- 
tion, temporarily attached to an organized 
county. The luireasoning prejudices of the 
time Avere so bitter, that Judge Douglas' course 
brougbt against him some partisan criticism, 
but it did bim no injury and his conclusions 
Avere generally ap])roved. 

Building improvements Avere not relatively 
so extensive as they had been during the tAvo 
or three previous years, yet much of it Avas of 
a permanent and substantial character. Some 
lai-ge brick striictures Avere raised on Front 
street and elscAvhere. adding greatly to the 
appearance of the place. Among others of 
the more pretentious kind. Avas the three story 
brick of A. T. ^Miller, at the corner of Fourth 
and Jlaine street, on the site of the old state 
bank building. This Avas. Avhen erected, and 
for some time afterAvard. the largest store in 
the city, and quite notable for that reason. 
It Avas the Parker building in Avhich the Herald 
office was long located and Avhich Avas destroyed 
by fire in 1870. 

Education received a beneficial advance in 
the establishment of three excellent private 
schools, a long felt need. One Avas the boys' 
school of C. A. Lord, Avhich promised and did 
Avell for a year or Iavo, but Avas then discon- 
tinued. Another Avas the boys' school of 
:\Ies.srs. Dayton and Cochrane, AA'ho had re- 
siiiued their positions in the public schools. 
These tAVo schools Avere oi^ened in the fall and 
Avinter of 1843. That of Davton and Cochrane 



96 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



continued for a number of years, latterly under 
the management of Mr. Dayton alone. 

A third enterprise of this kind was the female 
seminary of ^liss Doty, which, though not up 
to what the place might properly have had, 
was yet in many respects, a superior institu- 
tion, and for six or seven succeeding years af- 
forded as ample and thorough instruction as 
the average of such institutions in the west. It 
was at first located on the west side of the 
public square and afterward in the brick build- 
ing on the south side of Jlaine street, east of 
Sixth, erected specially for this purpose. This 
enterprise was much fostered by the personal 
efforts of Miss Catherine Beecher, of the noted 
Beecher family, who through her interest in 
the cause of education came t(i Quincy. and for 
a while took control of tlie institution. 

The piiblic schools "dragged their slow 
length along,'' embarrassed still, somewhat by 
opposition, but mainly by lack of funds. An 
effort had been made by petition, to the legis- 
lature, to have the German taxpayers exempted 
from the payment of the school tax. This 
movement was not countenanced generally by 
the Germans, and failed to succeed, but the 
agitation of such an issue was hurtful, and 
showed its effect iinfortunately in the city 
council. The feeble and unsupported condition 
of the public had become such, that a public 
meeting of the people held on the 6th of Sep- 
tember, called upon the council to make an ap- 
propriation of $-300 per quarter, and pay up 
the salaries. The council said that they could 
not and would not do so, and that they would 
resign before so doing. The trustees of schools 
thfu directed the teachers to discontinue and 
the schools were suspended. Cooler councils, 
however, soon prevailed, and at a meeting of 
the council. September the 2r)th, provision Avas 
made by the issue of .$300 in vouchers, to go as 
far as it would, and a bond for .$1,200. This 
re-opened the schools, though in a crippled con- 
dition, and with the loss of their most valuable 
teachers. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
1844. 

THE GRE.A.T FLOOD. LIBR.A.RT. HI.STORIC.\L 
CLUB. MILIT.\RY FEELING. SEVERAL MILI- 
T.\RY COMP.A.N-IES ORG.-\NIZED. FIRST ODD 
FELLOWS LC)DC;E. DE.A.TH OF DR. NELSON. 
MOVEMENT TO EDUCATE COLORED CHILDREN. 
GRE.\T POLITIC.\L EXCITEMENT. MORMON 
W.\R. MORMONS IN POLITICS. PRESU.MPTION 
OF THE MORMONS. SMITH. THEIR LE.\DER. 
KILLED. COUNTY SE.A.T QUESTION SETTLED. 

This was the year of the famous "great 
flood." An almost unprecedented rise, at the 



same time in ilay and June, of the Missouri, 
Illinois and upper ^lississippi rivei-s, spreading 
over the valleys from bluff to bluff, produced 
tlie most extensive and prolonged inundation 
inat u]) to that period had been known. The 
injury arising from such a flood was of course 
very great, and the subsidence of the waters in 
the fall was followed bj^ unusual sickness. 
Throughout the winter of 1843-4. the ^liss- 
issippi had remained very high, being only 
closed by ice for a few days, from Feb. 14th to 
17th, and after that time navigation continued 
uninterrupted until a temporai-y freeze on the 
12tli of December. 

lousiness during the past winter had begun to 
improve and became more stirring and prosper- 
ous than in 1843. About twenty thcnisand hogs 
were packed, which was a large increase over 
the product of any former season. ]\Ianufactur- 
ing interests, which had been lately somewhat 
depressed, revived and continued active. Nearly 
thirty-tive thousand barrels of flour were 
ground by the half dozen mills of the city 
and neighborhood, this being nearly fifty per 
cent advance on the preceding year's business. 
The times still were "hard" and money was 
scarce. The only paper in circulation not at 
a discount, was that of the Indiana and Mis- 
souri .state banks. 

A course of libi'ary lectures was the chief 
weekly enjoyment of the winter. These were 
a dozen in number, prepared by our own citi- 
zens, the professional men generalh', and were 
quite popular. One very interesting lecture 
given by Judge Snow on the 14th of February, 
on the old times of Quincy, was the inciting 
cause of what then promised to save some val- 
uable records of Quincy 's infant history. The 
interest felt on the subject was such that the 
Historical Club, which had been rather inactive 
f(n- some years, proposed to the city council to 
furnish free of expense, a manuscript of Quincy 
of which the club was to have sixty copies 
Avhenever the same was published. Bartlett 
and Sidlivan, of the Whig, proposed to print 
the work and sell the same at twenty-five cents 
per voliune, if the city would pay for publish- 
ing Ihe sixty copies. The city council agreed 
to accept these proposals, as soon as a copy 
should be furnished and appointed a commit- 
tee of three of its members to collect statistics 
and furnish them for the use of the club. This 
iTi-o^oct, the first and only general eft'ort to 
collate and preserve facts bearing upon our 
early liisto'-y, seems to have quietly died. This 
is to be regretted, for that was a period when 
there was much of incident and legend fre.sh in 
recollection, now forever forgotten, and there 
were men then living who could have largelv 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUN'l'Y. 



97 



«'()iiti-il)utcil to siicli a work. This lecture ol' 
•Judge Snow's, which is unfortunatelj^ lost, and 
an address on the same subject by ilr. Willard 
Jveyes a few years later, were the only efforts 
made by any of our old pioneers to place our 
early liistory into print in a coimected and per- 
manent form. Beyond tlie scant writings of 
these two men, botii specially familiar with 
what they might have written more aboit, and 
some more extended reminiscences from ^Ir. 
Charles Holmes, who resided here from 1828 
to IS'.V.i, hardly a scrap of liistory or memo- 
randa even exists from the i)en of any of the 
old settlers who were here i)rior to 1830. 

The niilitaiy feeling was very prevalent at 
this pciiod. It was so all over the country. 
The jarring relations with England over onr 
Maine and Oregon boundaries, and the feeling 
that trouble was ahead in Texas and with 
Mexico, set men to thinking of war. and with- 
out any inunediate thought of action in that 
way a military spirit was aroused. There had 
been a large and very good German company 
here for a year or two. The noted "Quincy 
Grays" had been disbanded some time before, 
but in 1843, partially from the membei'ship of 
that company, the ''Quincy Rifles," was or- 
ganized. Also, now the "Montgomery Guards." 
a showy Irish company was formed, making its 
first parade on the 31st of May. These skilled 
companies proved to be of much needed im- 
portance a few months later when the state 
was suddenly required to call out its military 
force in this section on the occasion of the 
killing at Carthage of Joseph and Hiram 
Smith, and the consequent "Mormon War," as 
it was called, in Hancock county. Two com- 
panies, the "Rifles" and "Guai-ds" -were 
creditably represented three years later in the 
]\rexican "War, the captain (Kelly) of the Mont- 
gomery Guards being killed at Buena Vista. 

The first Odd Fellows Lodge, the Quincy, 
No. 12, was organized during this year. Dr. 
David Nelson, the eminent theologian, whose 
name is associated with most of the early 
religious and philanthropic history of this sec- 
tion died in October. He had become mentally 
feeble some years before. 

A somewluit singular movement, taking into 
account the feelings and prejudices of the peo- 
ple in those times, was the presentation to the 
city council of a strong petition, signed by 
Judge Richard i\r. Young, and one hundred 
and thirty others, asking that provision should 
be made for the education of colored children. 
The result was as singular as the application. 
A conunittee of the council, to whom the matter 
was referred, recommended that an appro- 
priation should be made equal in proportion to 



that provided for the white children, and as 
there were eight hundred white children in 
the city, for whose education $1,200 had been 
appropriated, that for the thirty colored chil- 
dren there should be appropriated $45. This 
recommendation was adopted by the council, 
but resulted in jiothing of practical value. It 
is, however, notable as being the first public 
and official action in the direction of schools 
for the colored race. It is also a little singular 
that this i)roposition was fathered by those who 
had been always counted as pro-slavery men. 
Judge Young long after his residence in Illi- 
nois, was a slaveholder, and had not a great 
while before this time advertised for the cap- 
ture of runaway slaves. Almost every one 
living north of Mason and Dixon's line was 
anti-slavery in sentiment, south of that line 
many thought the same, but the majority there 
was attached to its home institution. A very 
few in the north were abolitionists, conscien- 
tiously so, and perhaps as many noi'thern men 
.sympathized with slavery and would be willing 
to see it generally established, but these two 
classes were .small and uninduential; yet so un- 
reasoning were the prejudices of the day, that 
it was common to charge the northern man who 
objected to interference with the institution of 
slavery in the states where it existed, with 
being "pro-slavery," and alike also the south- 
ern man wOio said a word in opposition to 
slavery, was suspected and assailed as an 
"abolitionist." This was untrue and unjust all 
around. Neither of these small factions, repre- 
sented the general sentiment of the north. The 
extension of slavery beyond its already pre- 
scribed limits was altogether another question, 
and when that i.ssue arose, as subsequent 
political lii.story has unmistakably proven, 
the north showed itself to be almost a unit. 

Referring to the school question again, it 
appeared that an examination and report made 
a few mouths before this petition w^as presented 
on the 7th of February, as to the condition, 
cost, etc., of the public schools, did not fully 
agree with the report above named. Then 
the full statistics showed that there were five 
pi'ivate schools in operation in the city, aggre- 
gating one hundred and six pupils, and four 
])ublic schools with three hundred and ten 
scholars registered, and with an average daily 
attendance of two hundred and seventy-five. 
The expense of sustaining the public schools 
was stated to be $1,800 per annum, and the 
cost of each pupil per quarter $1.63. about 
$6.50 for the year. The general condition of 
the schools was at this time less satisfactory 
than it had been ever before. 

Purchase was made by the citv. or rather 



98 



PAST AND PKESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



cession made by the county to the city, of 
the sonth half of block one, in the original plat 
of Quincy, to be forever used for public pur- 
poses only. This was that portion of the block 
which in 1825 had been set apart as a "burial 
ground," and used as such until 1837. The 
city had been gradually obtaining possession 
of portions of the north half of the block, and 
finally secured it all. Later the land passed 
into the hands of the Board of Education and 
a large bi'iek school house was there erected, 
which stood for many years. This arrangement 
between the city and county, which had been 
under consideration for some years was a 
judicious one, as it afterward proved, providing 
as it has a convenient place for the courthouse, 
which was erected in 1876, for which no other 
location could have been so easily secured. Not 
so satisfactory, however, was the result of an- 
other effort, long and quite persistently made, 
to have a poor house, constructed mutually by 
the county and city. After months of negotia- 
tion and committee conferences, this scheme, 
mainly from unwillingness on the part of the 
county authorities, fell through entirely. 

The Quincy Herald made its periodical 
change of ownership, as it used to almost 
annually in those days, Louis ]\L Booth and E. 
B. Wallace succeeding E. A. Thompson in the 
possession and control of the paper, adding 
much to its credit and influence. 

The political excitement which pervaded the 
country in 18-44 to a degree rarely paralleled 
at any presidential election, (certainly never 
exceeded in the west) was felt with full in- 
tensity in Quincy. Its enthusiasm had here as 
everywhere else been preparing during the past 
four years, and its open activity began at the 
city election in April, constantly increasing 
until the close of the presidential battle in 
November. The whigs all over the laud, mind- 
ful of their sweeping success under Harrison 
in 1810, and the treachery of Tyler, which had 
wasted all the fruits of their victory and rallied 
by their idolized leader, Clay, were all expect- 
ant of national success. This they would have 
undoubtedly secured but for the introduction 
of that "side issue" the "annexation of 
Texas," which broke the whig .strength in sev- 
eral of the southern states. 

On the other hand, the democratic party, 
anxious to redeem their great defeat of 1840, 
and to regain the ascendency which they had 
so easily maintained for three successive presi- 
dential terms, especially strong in the south and 
west, were active, earnest and aggressive. The 
whole country was in motion. 

As an ilhistration of how all absorbing this 
contest became, a hundred men went from 



Quincy to i'eoria to attend a whig convention, 
hiring a steamboat and being absent the entire 
week. 

At the city election in April the whigs placed 
iu nomination for mayor, John Wood, and H. 
V. Sullivan, F. W. Jansen and G. B. Dimock 
for aldermen ; believing, as it was then thought 
that it is a party duty, by which only its repute 
and strength can be sustained, to allow no 
names to be offered as proper public servitors, 
save such as are fit and respected. The demo- 
crats re-nominated Enoch Conyers, who had 
held the office for the two years last for mayor, 
and B. F. Osl)orne, J. H. Holton and James H. 
Luce for aldermen. Both tickets were excep- 
tionally strong. The whigs elected their mayor 
by a majority of 113 in a total vote of 793, 
and all of the aldermen except Jansen. who 
was beaten three votes by Ilolton. 

This election was contested, but unsuccess- 
fully, and the council, which was democratic, 
elected democrats to all subordinate city offices. 

The mayor's salary, by a party vote, was 
fixed at .$200 per annum, the clerk's at $150. 
At the state election in August for county 
officers, members of the legislature and member 
of congress, the democratic ticket was sue- 
ce.ssful by unexpectedly large majorities, run- 
ning in the county from 119 to 286. Judge 
Douglas was re-elected to congress over D. M. 
AVoodsou liy 149 majority in the county, falling 
sdmewhat behind his ticket on account of dis- 
satisfaction over his decision in the county 
division cases. Jacob Smith was chosen state 
senator over Abraham Jonas by 211 majiu'ity, 
and Peter Lott, Wm. Hendry and Warren Mil- 
ler, representatives, over Geo. C. Dixon, W. B. 
Gooding and John Dunlap. J. M. Pitman was 
elected sheriff' over W. H. Tandy. An abolition 
legislative and county ticket received from 133 
to 166 votes. At the presidential election in 
November the democrats carried both city and 
county by a majority of 215, Birney, the aboli- 
tion candidate, receiving 149 votes. 

There were reported as being in the city at 
this time, 44 stores and 9 churches. Wheat 
rated at an average of 50 cents per bushel 
throughout the year, and the crop was un- 
usuall.v large. 

The first Mormon war. which broke out in 
Hancock county during the summer of 1844, 
produced an excitement in Quincy. such as had 
not been since the time of the noted Nelson 
riots eight years before. A similar and almost 
equal excitement pervaded here two years later 
in 1846. when there came the second war, 
which resulted in the thorough expulsion of the 
Mormons from Nauvoo. These stormy troubles 
had so long been apprehended, that they 



PAST AND PKESEXT OF AUAMS COUNTY. 



99 



created im .surprise, yet tlie final oiitljreak eaiiie 
iu such a .shape as to startle ami shock the 
entire conununity. 

About dayiis,'ht on the morning of the 28th 
of June the city was roused by the clang of the 
church bells and a call for the people to assem- 
ble at once at the coui'thouse. Then and there 
appeared a delegati(Ui of well known citizens of 
Warsaw, lu'aded by \Vm. II. Roosevelt, wim, 
with most e.Kcitiug declamation and under an 
extreme evident alarm, which lent sincerity and 
drew sympathy to their appeals, announced 
that Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, and 
his brother Hiram. h;id on the day i)receding 
been killed in the Hancock county .jail: that 
several thousand revengeful ^lonnons were 
marching ui^on Warsaw, Mdiieh place was per- 
haps by that time sacked and burned. Also 
that Governor Ford, with his attendants had 
probably been killed, and they besought the 
assistance of the peoi)le of Quincy. 

Following this were some etjually exciting 
and intemperate speeches by two or three of 
our town talkers, who are always on hand on 
such occasion. While the position of these self- 
exiled ninawaj-s from the place where they 
should have remained for its defense was some- 
what derisively viewed, yet the situation was, 
or was likely to become serious. It was well 
known that the Smiths were arrested and eon- 
fined under guard in the Carthage jail, and that 
Governor Ford with a small escort had gone 
to Nauvoo on the day when the murders were 
committed. A committee of twelve citizens 
had been appointed at a meeting held here a 
few days before to mediate, if possible in the 
dissensions between the Mormons and their 
opponents in Hancock county. Now at once 
the full force of the city was promptly or- 
ganized and sent to the scene of action. A 
special meeting of the city council appointed a 
vigilance conunittee consisting of one aldcrnmn 
and three ( itizens from each ward. But the 
most practical action taken was that of the 
mayor in detaining the steamer Boreas, about 
to leave for St. Louis and sending it back to 
Warsaw, near the middle of the day, with an 
improvised military battalion of about foiir 
hundred men. This was composed of the 
Quiney IJiHes, the German and Irish companies, 
and a volunteer force of between one and two 
hundred citizens, variously armed, under the 
command of Andrew Johnston as captain, and 
James T. Baker as first lieutenant, the whole 
under the command of IMa.jor Win. (i. Flood, 
who had been ci>iisi)i('uous in the Black ll.-iwk 
war twelve years before. 

The city trembl3d with anxiety and the land- 
ing swarmed with spectators. This feverish 



feeling continued till greatly allayed when 
Bort'as returned in the evening with the news 
that the Jlormons, instead of rising to avenge 
the death of their prophet, were quiet and 
cowed by their apprehensions and these dis- 
plays of military force; that no r('i)risals had 
occuri'ed; that (iovernor Ford was unharmed; 
and that "order reigned in Warsaw." It is 
strange that it was so; strange that there was 
not one or more of the many reckless and des- 
perate characters who infested Nauvoo to 
rouse, as easily might have been done, the 
feelings of these thousands of credulous fan- 
atics into a wild wave of revenge, which, if it 
had been set in motion, would have swept de- 
struction within twenty-four hours all over 
Hancock coiuity. It was not done, however, 
and the .Mormnns were cowed and powei'less for 
the time. 

While there was mucli in these matters that 
appeared farcical, and in the conduct of some 
of the parties concerned even worse, yet there 
was much ground for apprehension, demanding 
the effective action so promptly assumed by our 
people. Quincy, from its i)osition as the largest 
near neighboring city, was the first called upon 
to interpose and furnish force to imt down 
these disturbances, and it became a sort of 
civil and inilitar.\- heiuhpiarters during this and 
the war of two years later, so much so as to 
connect its history jiermanently with both oc-j 
easions. 

A detailed accimnt of the ^Mormon troubles 
M'ould be too extended for space here. It will 
he remembered that five or six years before this 
date the "Latter-day Saints," as they were self- 
styled, when driven from Missouri, first found 
an asylum at Quincy. where their foi'lorn con- 
dition induced a sympathy, which for a long 
time continued. Settling sh(n-tly after in the 
town of Commerce, in Hancock county, at the 
head of the Des Moines rapids, they changed 
the name of the place to Nauvoo, said some- 
what doubtfuU.v, to be a word of Hebrew de- 
rivation, meaning either "city of beauty," or 
more probably "city of rest or repose," and 
here they rapidly increased. Thither flocked 
by thousands the devotees of this strange 
creed, most of them from England. 

By the state census of 18-45, out of a popula- 
tion of about 25,000 in Hancock county, the 
i\Iormons' portion was liberally estimated at 
from Ifi.OflO to 17.000. giving to it the niimeri- 
cal predominance in the county. When they 
finally left in 1846 their numbers Avere yet fair- 
ly estimated at from 16.000 to 17.000. 

Either the vanity of Smith, or more likely 
the needs of his situation, forced him and his 
jieolde into a f;ds(> jiosition and ran them rap- 



lOO 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



idly to ruiu. They struck against that instiuc- 
tive sentiment of public justice which will 
never allow violation. He, imagining that he 
might have control of the county, congres- 
sional, perhaps the state, possibly the national 
politics, assumed an independence above every- 
thing. He took the military rank of Lieuten- 
ant-General, claimed the pardoning power for 
criminal offeuse.s, which is the highest attri- 
bute of sovereignity ; presented himself as a 
candidate for the presidency ; petitioned and 
claimed from congress for himself and church 
a separate state independence, and in all his 
actions repudiated every idea of subordina- 
tion to .state or federal supremacy. 

This was the breaker on which was shat- 
tered his and his people's success in Illinois, 
the perversion of legal justice, of public rights. 
It was the "stocking" of the courts and juries, 
the subsidizing of officials and the open resist- 
ence to all magisterial authority whenever the 
tendency of such was "anti-Mormon" that 
brought about the crisis and ruin. The ]\Ior- 
mons might till all the county offices and pocket 
the fees ; send members in their interest to 
the legislatures; dictate who should go to con- 
gress ; but grievous as these assumptions were 
they were borne until the quiet fiat went out 
and was practically enforced that they owned 
the courts ; that no Mormon was to be pun- 
ished for any olfense : or if he was convicted 
Joseph Smith would pardon him. 

This was too much, and it brought about 
the eivil war, when Hancock and the adjacent 
counties, hopeless of justice through the 
courts, turned out their military strength, on 
an unauthorized and illegal call, to put down 
and out of existence the Mormon rule in Illi- 
nois. 

This gathering of troops in Hancoclv County, 
osten.sibly to sustain ancl enforce law but real- 
ly, as everybody knew, for the purpose of 
driving or searing away the Mormons, had 
now forced the attention of Governor Ford 
to the pending troubles and brought him to 
the scene. He had been extremely anxious 
to evade any action. During the canvass of 
1842, when he was elected, his opponent, Gov- 
ernor Duncan, crowded the Mormon question 
into an unpleasant political prominence ; and 
it had now become, with the protection and 
broad principles which the dominant party in 
the state had too recklessly given to these 
people, a very sore subject for the state au- 
thorities to handle. 

The Governor, when compelled to meet the 
matter face to face, tried no doubt to act 
faithfully, but his alternations of boldness and 
indecision were painfully apparent and did 



much to impair his future reputation as a 
public man. On reaching Carthage he found 
this large concourse of troojis, several hun- 
dred in number, and at once assumed their 
command. A day or two later he disbanded 
the larger portion of them. 

Smith, with several of his leading associates, 
on the arrival of the Governor, either from 
policy or fear, submitted to an arrest, vol- 
untarily presenting themselves at Carthage, 
where they were put in confinement. Hereto- 
fore he had on several occasions defied, evaded 
or escaped fi'oin legal service. The original 
charge on which he now was arrested was 
"treason." This writ was dismissed and he 
was rearrested on the charge of rioting; the 
sjjccial offense being his order and action in 
suppressing the Xauvoo Exi)()sitor. This was 
a paper which had been started at Nauvoo 
especially oi)posing ]\Iormonism. But one issue 
appeai-ed M-hen Smith decreed it to be a "nuis- 
ance" and the press and type were openly 
destroyed. On the 27th the jail where Smith, 
his brother Hiram and two others were con- 
fined, was attacked by an armed mob, the 
guards by agreement overpowered, and the 
Smiths were killed. From this came the ex- 
citement at Quincy of the next succeeding 
days. Governor Ford at the time when these 
events occurred was in Nauvoo. He heard 
of them just as he left the city on his return 
to Carthage, and from there on the 29th, with 
his staff, came to Quincy. People who have 
gone through the excitement and anxiety of 
a really great war may not know, yet it is 
a fact that a small war when people are not 
used to them is equally absorbing and excit- 
ing. The Governor's stay was of several days' 
duration and when he left early in Jiily mat- 
ters seemed to have quieted chiwn. But they 
were far from being so. The death of the 
Smiths did not, as perhaps had been expected, 
break up the Mormon association. On the 
contrary, with the prestige of martyrdom now 
attaching to the prophet's name, their numbers 
increased more rapidly than ever before. 

The Quincy companies that had gone to War- 
saw at the time of Smith's death remained 
but a day or t^vo, but three months later they 
were again called into the field. As the Mor- 
mons showed no disposition to leave the state, 
and their numbers were steadily increa,sing, a 
movement was again inaugurated to effect 
their removal. 

A grand wolf hunt was advertised to take 
place in Hancock in September, which was 
well understood to mean a raid upon the Mor- 
mons. The Governor again came to Quincy. 
having called out from Sangamon and Mor- 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



lOI 



gaii counties ;iiiil clsewhei'c a lai-i;o fori-i.', ami 
with them tlie Kities and German company, 
who were again marched up to Hancock coun- 
ty on the 2')th of Sei)tember, and for a 
few days the city was fiUed witli "war's 
ahirms. "' After a week or ten days quiet 
was restored and the sohliery returned. 
An addition to tlu'se excitements was 
the bringing- down to Quincy under military 
guard of William and Shappe. who had been 
arrested on the charge of having been con- 
nected with the nnirder of the Smiths. The 
guard was rather farcical since these men had 
voluntarily surrendered themselves. Still, this 
added to the excited feelings of tlie time. These 
men were examined hei-e and bound over for 
trial. Sub.sequently, in 1845. trials were had in 
Hancock county of several men charged with 
tlie death of the Smiths, but though it ]H-obably 
was known who took part in that affair no 
convictions resulted. 

The bitter strife between the cit\- and coun- 
ty, which had commenced sevei-al years before, 
about the removal of the county seat, still 
"dragged its slow length along." It had, 
however, lost its special excitement for Quincy, 
for the reason that the issue had been now 
changed to ;i judicial contest over the divi- 
sion of the county, concerning which Quincy 
felt but a secondary interest. The Marquette 
people steadily refused to be thus cut away 
from Adams county, and they constantly voted 
at every general or special election, whenever 
this i.ssue could come in, either against separate 
organization or for candidates for county of- 
fices, who were pledged not to qualify and 
assume office. These were invariably elected. 
The cii'cuit and supreme coiirt decisions had 
aftirmed the law which established the new 
county, and ignored all recogniticui of the ter- 
ritory therein as being a constituent portion 
of Adams countj'. But so long as the people 
in the eastern section of the county revolted 
against this ai-bitrary expatriation and con- 
stantly refused to organize all these .iudieial 
decrees were but paper bullets aiul totally in- 
effective. 

Consequently for a number of years I\Iar- 
quette i-emained politically parentless. Foiir 
years later than this period, however, under 
the operation of the new state constitution 
of 1847-48 tliis local trouble was cui-ed. 

A clause was introduced by Mr. Williams 
and secured by his special action that "all 
territory which has been or may be stricken 
off by legislative enactment from any organized 
coimty or counties for the purposes of form- 
ing a new county, and which shall remain un- 
organized after the period jirovided for its 



organization, shall be and renuiin a part of 
the county or counties from Avhieh it was 
originally taken, for all purposes of state and 
count v. 



CHAPTER XXni. 



1845. 

POPULATION OF CITY AND COUNTY, 19,399. BUSI- 
NESS .STATEMKNT. JOHN W^OOD, MAYOR. SPE- 
CIAL TAX FOR SCHOOLS. MORNING COURIER, 
FIR.ST DAILY NEWSPAPER. COLONIZATION 
SOCIETY FORMED. MORMON TROUBLES CON- 
TINUED. JUDGE C. L. HIGBEE. COUNTY 
SEAT QUESTION AGAIN. 

The first constitution of Hlinois prescribed, 
as a basis for the periodical legislative appor- 
tiomnents. that a census should be taken in 
ISi'O and every fifth year thereafter. The re- 
1\u-ns as made by Capt. Kelly, who was the 
state enumerator for the year 1845, gave a 
population to Quincy of 4,007. First ward, 
1.40G; Second ward, 1,182; Third ward, 1,419; 
colored, 66; sub.ject to military duty, 987. 
These figures taken in connection with the pre- 
vious date, show that there had been an almost 
uniform doubling of the population during 
each five years since 1825. There are no eei-- 
tain figures for the first ten years. Quincy 
did not, then, find a place on either the state 
or national census of 1825 or 1830. In 182.5, 
the year of its location, it had a dozen resi- 
dent's. In 18:?0 it is estinuited that there were 
about :inO. The first relialile figures are from 
the state census of 1835, which places the 
population of the town at 753, Following this 
there appears a census made by order of the 
town authorities in 1837-38 which reported a 
total of 1.653. In 1840 the national census 
reported a population of 1,850. A city census, 
quite carefully taken in 1842. showed an in- 
crease on this^ up to 2,686, and in 1845 there 
is reported 4.007. indicating an even, regular 
growth through twenty years. In later years 
this large regular percentage of periodical in- 
crease has much fallen off. 

Adams count.v. including Quincy. at this cen- 
sus of 1845. had a population of 13.511. to 
which, adding 5,888 in ]\rar(piette. gave a to- 
tal of 19.399. showing that the city had about 
one-fifth of the whole. The relative growth 
of city and county has been as follows: In 
1825 "the county, with perhaps 300 in Han- 
cock, had 2.186": Quincy, probably by the end 
of the year, 50 or more. In 1830 the county 
population was 2,186. of which some 200, about 
one-tenth, were in the village. Five years later 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



by the stat.5 census the county has 7,042 aud 
the town 753, still about one-tenth. Five years 
farther on, in 1840, the county contained 14,- 
476, and the city 1,850, this being one-eighth 
of the whole. lu 1845, as above .stated, the 
city had a little over one-fifth; in 1850 the 
county had 26.508 and the city 6,902, over 
one-fourth; in 1860 the county figured 41,323 
and the city 12,362, nearly one-third: in 1870 
there were 56,362 in the county to 24,062 in 
the city, a proportion of three-sevenths, and 
in 1880 the county showed 59,148 and the city 
27,268, almost one-half. 

In connection with the census taken at this 
time a carefully compiled schedule of the busi- 
ness of the city reported, of stores, 29 di-y goods, 
21 grocery and provision, 1 book, 3 hardware, 
2 wholesale grocers, 2 wholesale iron, 2 cloth- 
ing. 4 druggist. 1 shoe, 2 leather; of shops, 21 
shoe, 17 tailor, 9 wagon makers, 3 tin, 13 black- 
smith. 9 paint, 6 saddle and harness, 4 turn- 
ing, 2 barbers, 3 machine, 12 carpenters, 1 
cigar; of factories. 4 chair, 1 threshing ma- 
chine, 1 faiuiing mill. 1 bucket; 2 shingle nm- 
chines. 1 carding nuichine. 2 latlie machines. 1 
ropewalk; 7 ht)tels. 3 bakeries. 3 confection- 
eries, 5 pork houses, 4 livery stables. 6 steam 
flour mills, 3 steam sawmills, 1 distillery, 3 
soap factories, 3 brickyards, 2 tanneries, 3 
watch and jewelry stores, 6 butcher shops, 2 
]U'inting offices, 16 churches, 3 military com- 
l)aiiies, 52 licensed teams. 

John Wo(jd, the whig nonnnee, was rechosen 
mayor at the city election in April by a ma- 
jority of 138 over J. H. Holton. The whigs at 
the same time elected two out of the three 
aldermen. Di-. J. B. Conyers in the First, Dr. 
J. N. Ralston in the Third ward; and the demo- 
crats elected Sanuicl IIuttt)n in the Second 
ward. This result gave to the whigs for the 
first time since 1841 the political control of 
the council and they at once proceeded on the 
"lex talionis" principle to act up to the ex- 
treme extent of their power by making a clean 
sweep-out of all the former city officials. John 
L. Cochran was appointed city clerk as the 
successor of General Leech. ^Mr. Cochran re- 
signed before his year term of office expired 
and was succeeded by Judge Snow, who con- 
tinued to hold the office for two following 
years and so long as the whigs retained a ma- 
jority in the city council. At that time and 
for some years later the oflfiee of the city clerk 
was more important than it is at present. 

Its incumlient then was both clerk and comp- 
troller combined, as the daily business of the 
city passed almost entirely through his hands 
he was expected to supply whatever was lack- 
ing of business education or (pialification in 



the mayor. The first city mayor, E. Moore, 
chosen in 1840 and again in 1841, was a method- 
ical, practical business man and had been se- 
lected for that position over other more popu- 
lar and reju'esentative men for the reason that 
it was thought best to have such a man to 
handle the helm at the commencement of the 
young city's career. His two immediate suc- 
cessors were not practical business men, and 
their clerks, Woodruff. Leech, Cochran and 
Snow, were all men of more or less experi- 
ence and mark in their time, and really ran 
the city nuichinery. The duties of the mayor 
were then very light, except on occasions, most- 
ly confined to overlooking labor on the streets, 
he being ex-ofificio street superintendent. Mr. 
Cochran was an Englishman, a man of rather 
unusual acquirements, was by profession a civil 
engineer and teacher, had been iirominently 
connected with the public schools and as a 
mathematician he had not then and probably 
has never had his equal in Quincy. He could 
do what not one in millions can — ruu up in 
his mind the addition of four figures and de- 
clare the result as accurately as others could 
;uld u|) a single colunui. He was one of the 
notable men of the place in his time. A few 
years later he removed to California. 

The city council voted a salary to aldermen 
of two dollars for each regular and fifty cents 
for each special meeting; before this time they 
had been paid nothing. Urgent requests were 
made upon the city fathers to organize a 
"night watch." but they decided that the city 
did uot need it and could not afford the ex- 
pense. The city obtained from the legisla- 
ture during the preceding winter the relin- 
(luishment of the railroad street (now Broad- 
way) which seven years before had been grad- 
ed from Twelfth street to the river, and also 
secured from the United States the title to 
Avhat is known as the "Tow Head," the point 
of land lying between the bay and the liver, 
measured then as containing 207 acres, which 
it probably greatly exceeds at present. 

Judge Thonuis resigned his position as judge 
of this circuit to take a similar place in the 
noi'thern part of the state and his place was 
temporarily filled b.v Judge R. M. Young. In 
August N. IT. Purple was appointed, who held 
the office for the three following years and 
until the new constitution of 1848 changed 
the judicial system. Judge Peter Lott. who 
had been elected to the legislature in 1844, 
resigned his seat in February just at the close 
of the session and was thereupon immediately 
appointed circuit clerk, displacing C. M. 
Woods, who had acceptably held the office for 
manv rears. At this time, and before 1848, 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



103 



the judges iii)s.s(>sse(l the power ot' appniiitnieut 
of elerks. An iiuliunatinn meet inn- of the 
iiieinbei's of the h;ii- was hehl at onee to niake 
objections to the leiiidval. 'I'his movement 
was not so iiiueli aiiiie(l at Lutt. who was i)ei'- 
sonally popuhu' and more capable than Mr. 
Wootls. but it was intended as a protest atiainst 
the summarv style in whieli the hitter's bead 
was taken ofil'. 

Chanires eonse(pieiit on the election of the 
democratic presidential ticket in 184-4 were 
made in the federal offices in Qiiiney. Dr. 
Samuel W. l\o<iei's became ])ostmaster; Samuel 
Holmes and Dv. Ilii'am Hoycrs resjieetively 
reg'ister and receiver of the public land office, 
and all continued in their res|)ective offices un- 
til removed in 1840, when the whig adminis- 
tratiou came into power. 

At the session of 1844-4.1 the General As- 
sembly passed an act amendatory of the city 
charter authorizinj^- the assessment of an an- 
nual tax ■which should be apjilied solely to the 
support of the city schools. This was conditioned 
on its appr</val by a popular vote of the city, 
and at a special election, held on the 11th of 
April, although the proposition was persist- 
ently and bitterly opposed liy the faction 
which had always fought the free school sys- 
tem, it was adopted by a most decisive ma- 
jority and thence became a permanent en- 
graftment upon the city charter. This was a 
very important measure: indeed, it w'as the 
foundation stone of free school prosperity. 
There was in it, however, this one serious 
defect — that the money thus raised passed 
through the i)ossession of the city eonncil aiul 
its manner of appropriation rested in their 
control, and it was not nntil many years later. 
when this defect had become seriously appai- 
ent, that by the legislative enactment which 
created the Board of fjducation and decreetl 
a complete severance of this fund from the 
other revenues of the city, the independent 
school system was completed and assured. The 
assessment of 1-8 of 1 ])er cent, as authorized 
by the law, was made. 

With this moneyed relianc(> before them and 
the obvious need of school room facilities, the 
school trustees agreed to a|iin-o|)riate ^'.W) to- 
wards the erection of a suitable and sutHcient 
schoolhouse and the city council voted an issue 
of seven .^100 bonds for the same purpose. 
Finding that the necessary cost of the build- 
ing would lie twelve Inuidred dollars the coun- 
cil increased its apjiropriation by two hun- 
dred dolbnx more. This was the first public 
school building in the city, erected on the 
ground where now stands the Franklin school- 
honsc on South Fifth street. 



The .Morning Courier, the first tlaily iiews- 
|>aper of (^nincy, made its appearance on the 
fii'st of November. It was a small affair and 
died after -.[ few week.s' sickly existence. The 
Whig commenced the issu(> of a tri-w(>ekly 
which was kept up ffdiii time I0 time, with 
but little satisfactory result. The newsjiapcr 
men wi're all anxious and wei'c ui'ge(l by the 
public til "lii-anch out.'" and several attemjits 
were made to iiuH't this wish by the two old- 
time Journals dui'ing this and the two succeed- 
ing years, linl they invariably found that the 
time had imt yel come and had to fall back 
to their |)revious weekly edition. 

The summer was very sickly and said by 
some to be more so than any season since 
1882 and 1834. Business fairly held its own, 
though not especially active. Wheat averaged 
through the year about sixty cents, running 
from about fifty cents in July to seventy-two 
early in Decem])er. and falling to sixty cents 
at the close of the yeai\ Hogs sold during 
December at about three dollars. There were 
packed in the winter of 1844-45 a few more 
than the preceding one. Neai-ly forty thou- 
sand barrels of ffour were claimed to have 
been maiuifactured during the year. The mill- 
ing business had become very large. It was 
in the hands of men of means and exi)erience 
and was I'apidly extending. Navigation, which 
had been difficult during the latter part of the 
year, suspended on the first of December. 

A fair amount of public improvement 
mai'ked the |)rogi'ess of the year. This was 
specially shown on Front street, where sev- 
er.d large biick warehouses were erected, add- 
ing much to the ajipearance of the city from 
the river. The landing was also completed in 
its extension to the foot of Maine street. Mat- 
ters of temi)orary local interest were many. 
A very large and general demonstration was 
made on the tiftb of July, when Judge Jjott 
delivered an (>ulogy on General Jackson, who 
had died in the month preceding. 

.\ colonization society was formed in April, 
with (|uite a large membership and much seem- 
ing earnestness. These societies used periodi- 
cally to spring up immediately after each pres- 
idential election, intended to become a cheek 
upon the slavery e.Kcitement which always at- 
tended these .struggles. Annual attempts were 
made by luiblic meetings and pressure upon 
the city council for action by them to obtain 
a free ferry, but they failed, as usual, the ferry 
owiu'i's ott'ering to trans]iort "all iMissourians 
;in(l (^uincyites (excepting wood wagons) for 
$400 per annum, but the council would not 
agree to the terms. 

The two local troubles, which, like a public 



104 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



dyspepsia, had periodically broken out duriug 
the past four or five years — the Mormon and 
the county seat matter — still stayed uneured; 
the first of these causing something like the 
former excitements. With the killing of Jo- 
seph Smith in 18-44 it would have seemed as 
if the predominance of the Mormons in Han- 
cock and their influence in the adjoining coun- 
ties vi'as broken. But it was not so. The 
scepter of the prophet fell into the hands of 
men of more determination and ability than 
he had posse.ssed ; men who for their own pur- 
poses clung to the control of the county, and 
thus, of course, a bitter feeling and disturb- 
ance continued, ilen generally went armed 
and in groups, fearing strife. Fatal collisions 
and destruction of property still often oc- 
curred. Finally the killing of some promi- 
nent Mormons, also of Dr. Marshall by Sheriff 
Deming, and again of Frank Worrell by (as 
it was charged) Sheriff' Backenstos, who had 
been elected as Deming 's successor by the ]\Ior- 
mon vote, and the taking possession of Carth- 
age by Backenstos with an armed force from 
Nauvoo. causing another flight of the citizens 
of Carthage and Warsaw, compelled again the 
attention of the governor. He ordered out in 
September the volunteer militia from Spring- 
field, Jacksonville, Quincy and other places, 
numbering several hundred men, under the 
command of Gen. John J. Ilardin, and sent 
them to the scene of action. Quincy was thus 
once more "roused bj' war's alarms." The 
presence of this imposing force gave temporary 
quiet to the county. The rifle company from 
Quincy remained in Hancock county but a few 
days, but immediately after their return they 
were ordered back, and from late in October 
through the following six or seven months as 
a mounted company, they were stationed in 
and patrolled Hancock county, successfully 
preserving order. 

The condition of affairs in Hancock was 
very deplorable and such as could only be 
controlled by bayonet rule. In the county the 
"Latter Day Saints," as they called them- 
selves, possessed an overwhelming numerical 
strength, held all the offices and used their 
power with consistent boldness. In all the bor- 
dering counties, especially in Adams, feeling 
was intensified against them and frequent mass 
meetings were held denouncing the itormons 
and demanding their expulsion from the state. 
The law seemed powerless. Judge Purple, the 
successor of Judge Thomas on this circuit, de- 
clined holding the usual fall term of court in 
Hancock. 

Charges, countercharges and prosecutions 
were plentifully made by both parties, but pun- 



ishments failed to follow. Jake Davis, state 
senator from Hancock, charged with complicity 
in the killing of the Smiths, was relievetl from 
arrest by an order from the senate. Backen- 
stos, indicted for the murder of Worrell, with 
which he was undoubtedly connected, had his 
trial moved to Peoria county in December and 
there obtained an acquittal. A strange career 
M-as that of this man — a shrewd, daring adven- 
turer, with an almost rejiulsive, desperado 
bearing and look. He ran his course success- 
fully here and shortly after obtained a com- 
mission as captain in the regular army, where 
he served for several years and until his deatli. 
What political or other service or merit se- 
cured for him such a sinecure, usually so diffi- 
cult to attain, was a question much asked tlien 
and never yet answered. These neighboring 
troubles continued to be a source of interest 
and excitement in Quincy until the final for- 
cible expulsion of the ilormous in the fall of 
lS-46. 

Judge Chauncy L. Higbee, Avhose sudden 
and lamented death is in the minds of all at 
this time, the most satisfactoryandpopularman 
who had presided in the courts of this section 
of the state since the time of Judge Purple, 
was singularly and specially connected with 
the movement that finally drove the Mormons 
from the state, a movement which began in 
1844 and succeeded in 1846. He Avas the edi- 
tor and proprietor of the Nauvoo Expositor; 
the paper which was destroyed and suppressed 
by Joseph Smith after the issue of its first 
number in 1844. Higbee had to run away to 
save himself from violence. This extreme at- 
tack upon the freedom of the press did more 
than anything else could have done to excite 
a hot prejudice against the ilormons far out- 
side of where their local and personal bear- 
ings were felt and known. 

The county seat (which had now become a 
county division) question made its pei-iodical 
appearance. At the August election JMarquette 
again voted not to organize: Judge Purple af- 
firmed the decision of Judge Douglas (from 
which Judge Young, while temporarily holding 
court, had dissented) that Marquette was at- 
tached to Adams for judicial purposes and thus 
the eastern f.-art of the county remained in that 
most anomalous position of being and yet not 
being: paying no taxes, having no representa- 
tion and only known in the courts. As War- 
ren waggishly said, "ilarqnette without any 
fault of her own had been several times pun- 
ished. She was born against her wish and 
had been twice killed — once when she was de- 
capitated from Adams and next when she was 
legallv hung — to Adams." 



PAST AiND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



105 



CIlAI'TEi; XXIV. 
1846. 

BUSINES.S IXCREA.SING. WOODLAND CEMKTKRY. 
rROGUK.SS OF PUBLIC LIBRARY. '■.MISSION 
l.X.^TITrTIO." .MEXICAN \V.\R. QUINCY SENDS 
SOLDIIOKS. .\NNU.\L EI.\A.\CI.A.L ST.\TEMENT. 
MC)K.M(.).N1S DIUVK.N P'ROM THE ST.\TE. 

The wiiiter of 1S4j-4G wa.s exeeptiooally cold, 
more so thaii winters had been for several 
years, yet the temperature, thoiigli low, was 
even and regular and the season throughout 
Avas unusually pleasant. .Much isnow fell early 
and late, gi\ing a long continuance of good, 
smooth sleighing'. The river, which had closed 
early in December, opened late in January, af- 
fording easy navigation until the 26th of Feb- 
ruai-y, when it again iced over; finally becom- 
ing free on the Ttli of ]March, with a full-bank 
rise such as rarely occurs at so early a time 
in the year. Later, however, in August, the 
lowest stage of water in the upper JMississippi 
that is recorded during the twenty previous 
years was reached and the summer and fall 
navigation became difficult and uncertain. Busi- 
ness throughout this Avinter, owing to the cause 
above named, the opening of the river in mid- 
winter, and also to the general high prices, 
was quite brisk ; more so, probably, than it had 
been at any former corresponding period. 
About the same amount of jjork was packed 
MS had been during the wintei' before, but the 
prices ruled much higher and a lai'ger circula- 
tion of money was the consequence. 

The close of this year (1846) showed a de- 
cided increase in the stability and variety of 
all branches of business. The flour mills of 
the city, which had by this time become the 
most extensive in their nuuiufacture of any of 
tlie river nortli of St. Louis, were estimated to 
have shipped away nearly seventy thousand 
barrels of flour during the year, being about 
double the manufacture of the previous year. 
The wheat crop of the county and vicinity was 
unusually large and fine in quality, though 
there was a good deal of fluctuation in its 
prices, ranging from 65 to 70 cents in the 
spring down to 38 and 40 in August, and again 
rising to the first-named figures later in the 
season. Real estate, which had been "a drug" 
for several yeai's. began to show a fixed, uni- 
form value commcnstn'Mte with the steady con- 
dition of genernl liusiness. Sales were not nu- 
merous and not at such figures as hud ruled 
in the wild, siiecuiative days of 1836, but they 
were stable. As a citation of the worth of 
property at that time, facing the public stpiare, 
which has always detei-mined the general value 
of land throughoiit the citv, the old "Land 



OHicc Hotel." the "bedbugs'retreat" as it was 
quaintly and correctly called, was sold at auc- 
tion. It was an old two-story frame structure 
of about one hundred feet front on ITampshire, 
near the corner of Fifth. The buikling was near- 
ly worthless and llie proi)erty was purchased 
only at its ground value. It sold for from $38 
to $43 per foot. At the present date (1885) 
the ground value of the same property would 
be probably estimated at about four hundred 
dollars per lineal foot. The city jiurchased 
in July, for school uses, three-fourths of the 
north half of what is now Jefferson square, 
fronting on Broadway, for $51"2.50. A few 
years after the remaining fourth was obtained 
at about the same price. This secured to the 
city the entire ownership of the block. The 
south half liad been bought from the county 
ai>out two years before. 

Woodland cemetery was laid off in April. 
It originally contained somewhat less than 
forty acres. At the following session of the 
legislature, by an act approved January 16th, 
1.S47. authority was granted to i\Ir. Wood, who 
had established the cemetery, to make a per- 
manent contract, under which after his death 
it should pass into the control and partial own- 
ership of the city. 

Eleven years after this time, in 1857, four 
and sixty-five one-hundredth acres were added, 
making the final total area of the cemetery 
a little over forty-three acres. An extensive 
sale of lots was immediately made and the rec- 
ord shows that by the 13th of ^lay there bad 
been three burials. Right after and during 
the succeeding fall and winter a great number 
of bodies were removed hither from the city 
cemetery at the coi-ner of Twenty-fourth and 
Elaine, and a few from the old burial ground 
on Jeft'erson S(|uare. But few intei-iuents wei'e 
from this time made in the former i-cmetery. 
now "]\Iadison Square." 

(juite a stirring sensation was created on the 
morning of the 18th of August, a good deal 
intensified from its blending with jxilitical feel- 
ing, when the good i)eople of the city awoke 
to find that again some graceless vagabond had 
bai'lscd the large tree which stood in the cen- 
ter of the i)ublic square. This tree had re- 
placed the handsome elm that had been de- 
sti'oyed in a similar numner six yivirs before. 
Public feeling heated at once against this sec- 
(111(1 exhibition of vandalism and the city coun- 
cil at a special meeting offered a reward of 
one hundred dollars for the detection of the 
parties who had conunitted this outrage. The 
affair Avas easily traceable, like the previous 
case, to a jietty ]>olitical spite, and the authors 
and actors were pretty well known, but the 



io6 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



difficulty of seeiu'iBg positive proof and shrewd 
manipulation of the matter bj^ parties who were 
anxious to eonceal their own indirect respon- 
sibility, caused it to gradually pass out of 
thought without any conclusive legal action 
or exposure. 

The Quincy Library, now in the sixth year 
of its existence, reported the possession of 
eleven hundred volumes, showing its condition 
to be fairly prosperous. This was a much fa- 
vored institution during the early days of the 
city. Its estal)lisliment and management was 
.iudicious. (.Tcnerous donations of standard 
books, carefully selected, of money, and the 
earnest, personal care and attention of a num- 
ber of thoughtful and intelligent men ensured 
to it a foundation of permanence. Its resources 
were, of course. limited, and f(n' several years 
its main reliable income was derived from the 
winter course of lectures. These were altogether 
given by home lecturers, cost nothing, and were 
popularly attended, being the weekly inter- 
esting gatherings of the winter. Many of these 
lectures were of a high order of interest and 
value, such as few places in the West of equal 
population could i>roduce. Tliey were almost 
altogether given by our professional men. and 
the tiualitications of the representatives of the 
three "learned professions" in Quincy at this 
time were very superior. Bushnell. Johnston. 
Lott, Browning. Warren. Dixon. Randolph, 
Oilman, among the lawyers ; Giddings. Moore, 
Marks, Poote. Parr, of the clergy: Taylor, 
Nichols, Ralston. Rogers, from the medical 
ranks, and cdhers were mostly men of educa- 
tion, culture and experience, and were also per- 
sonally popidar and attractive, hence their lec- 
tures were always creditably intellectual and 
fully relished. It was the fashion to go to the 
lectures and. of course, everybody went. The 
annual revenue from this source, although it 
was not large, proved sufficient to sustain the 
library outside of its current expenses during 
the first half a dozen or more years of its ex- 
istence. The Tri-Weekly Whig, wliich had been 
started by Bartlett & Sullivan in October. 18-15. 
suspended on the l^lst of April. This was one 
among the many unsuccessful experiments 
made by the two permanent weeklies, the Her- 
ald and Whig, to establish daily or tri-weekly 
.journals, each ambitious to be the first in the 
field, during the first two decades of our city 
history. They were all ushered into the w(irld 
vrith hope and promise, but all died before 
teething time, and their many skeletons whiten 
out past times, like buft^alo skulls on the plains, 
none of them lasting over a year. The pei'iod 
had not yet ripened for such enterprises. A 
fair degree of general and permanent improve- 



ment in building and business marks the rec- 
ord of tills year. The fir.st German ^lethodist 
Church, on Jerse.v Street, between Fifth and 
Sixth, was completed and dedicated on the 
L';)th of .Alarch. 

A large woolen factory was constructed by 
Dunsmoor li ^liller, on the west side of Front 
street, .just north of Spring, and immediately 
noi-th of that ('apt. T. J. Casey operated an 
extensive distillery. This was a large three- 
story brick, the third distillery that had been 
started in or near Quinc.v, and in about two 
years' time it shared the fate of its two pre- 
decessors — being destroyed b.v fire. The woolen 
factor,y also was biii-ned not far from the same 
time in 1848. 

The governor of ^Missouri pardoned from the 
lienitentiary on the 29th of July, Thompson, 
one of the trio of "Quincy abolitionists," as 
the.v were then called, who were sentenced 
from Clarion county in 1811 to twelve years' 
confinement fur the attempted "abduction of 
slaves." 

The othc two. Work and Burr, liad been 
freed from prison some time before. These 
tliree young men. above named, were students 
at the ""^Mission Institute," near Quincy, and 
had probabl.v rendered themselves amenable to 
liunishment for the violation of the laws of 
Missouri, luit it was a generall.v recognized 
fact that the trial of these culprits had not 
been impartial and .just. Indeed, in those ex- 
citing days, it was almost impossible for any 
one suspected of having the taint of abolition- 
ism to get a fair trial in the slave states, or 
even in the border .states. Suspicion was al- 
mo.st eciuivalent to conviction in all such cases, 
so general and so extreme was the popular 
pre.judice on this subject. 

A sliort allusion tt) the "^Mission Institute," 
which had so much to do with the neighbor- 
ing relations of Quincy and with its then and 
after reputation, is here a proper and essen- 
tial portion of the jtast record of the cit.v. The 
influence Miiich this institution exercised was 
not the most fortunate for itself or for the 
city. The original design was to establish a 
school in the neighborhood of the city whose 
object should be to educate and qualify young 
people of both sexes for duty as Christian mis- 
si(niaries in foreign lands. No purer idea could 
have been generated and its philantliropic juir- 
pose. aided by the great prestige of Dr. Nel- 
son's name as its founder and patron, gave 
great promise to its beginning, but it labored 
with limited means, its standard of scholai-ship 
was not of the highest and many of its students 
were deficient in rudimental acquirement. These 
causes operating upon the sensitive public sen- 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



107 



tiinciit (if till' times and nl' Wtr Icicalily. prc- 
\cii1»'(l it ri-(ini iihtaiiiiiij:- tlic pnipi'i- hold 111)011 
|)iililic synipatliy and it finally died out after 
lia\iii^' aecoinplishcd some u'ood in the line of 
its intention, but hardly anything- eoninii'ii- 
^^n^at(' with what was expected or the merit 
uf its design. (Iradually after this time the 
estrani>eiiient over the slavery ((uestion be- 
tween the people on two sides of the river be- 
came allayed; was less talked about and less 
thouKlit of. 

With the breaking out of the Me.xieaii War 
(Jovernor Ford on the 25th of May issued a 
call for three i-egiments of infantry. Under 
this cill a great number of eom]ianies were 
oll'eri'd. and of the thirty whieh could be ae- 
cei)ted, one and part of another was reeog- 
nizi'd from (^iiiney as being "in mi time." 
'riiesc wci'e the "Rifles," whieh, as before stat- 
ed, had been doing state service in Ilaucoek 
(luring the past winter, and a portion of the 
Irish ('oiii]Kiiiy. This company was commanded 
by ('a|)fain -lames D. Morgan, who in the civil 
war became a major-general. It was recruited 
up to the full standard and as such served 
throughout the war; the other, not tilling its 
ranks, was afterward incorporated with a com- 
pany fi-om Kendall county in the second regi- 
ment, commanded by Colonel afterward, (iov- 
ernor Hissell. Three of the men from this 
company were killed at the bloody battle of 
Buena Vista, among them T. Kelly, the former 
captain of the company. The Rifles, number- 
ing ninety -three men, were mustered into the 
first regiment, that of Col. John J. Hardin, who 
was killed at Buena Vista. This company had 
a high reputation for drill and efficiency, but 
did not take part in the battles of the war, 
and hence lost no men except from disease. 
Both of these organizations served their year's 
term of service and i-eturned to (^uincy in the 
summer of 1847. They rendezvoused in June. 
1846. at Alton, the city paying the expen.ses 
of transpoi'tation by steamer to that point. 
Uatei- ill this year, during the war, and in 1847, 
in answer to subsequent calls, a few men were 
recruited in Quincy for the regular service and 
some .joined the two additional state regiments, 
but no complete organization other than those 
above named went from (Quincy to participate 
in the ^lexieau war. 

Pai'ties as usual were active in the spring 
election. The whigs again nominated John 
AVood for mayor and TI. V. Sullivan, Cecu'ge 
Brown and Xat'l Summers for aldermen. wh() 
were opposed on the democratic side by Tim- 
othy Kelly tor mayor and Joseph JlcClintock. 
Fred Johnson and Damon Hauser for alder- 
men. The election was active and close. Out 



of a total vote of 971 Wood received 27 ma- 
jority. McClintock 6, Johnson 44 and Summers 
21. The vote was the largest ever cast, being 
an increase of 169 over that of the pei'vious 
year. It will be observed that in all these 
earlier elections to the city council the politi- 
cal lines were geographically drawn almost as 
they have continued, not greatly or often 
changed throughout the following forty years. 
The southern part of the city was almost in- 
variably whig ; the central belt, with neai'ly the 
same cei'tainty was democratic, and the north- 
ern section was always more or less de- 
batable. The result of this election was to 
make the new council politically a tie, with 
the mayor having the casting vote. The whigs 
re-elected Snow as clerk and reappointed most 
of the old city officers, -lohnson, of the sec- 
ond ward, gave di.ssatisfaction to some of his 
con.stituents by his course on the license ques- 
tioii and resigned before his term expired, his 
vacancy being filled by H. L. Simmons. The 
mayor's salary was fixed at .'t!200 and the clerk's 
.$l.i() and fees. 

The u.sual annual statement on the first of 
April showing its financial condition and ree- 
(n-ds for the year past reiioited the bond in- 
debtedness of" the city as j(;20.640.00 and ^100 
out as vouchers. The bond debt on the first 
of April. 1845. was !)?20.888.38. The schedule 
of receipts and expenditures showed as dur- 
ing the year. 

Received fnnn wharfage si^l, 152.33 

Received from cemetery 381.32 

Received from taxes 4,833.56 

Received from market house 346.09 

Received from license, grocery 686.05 

Received from license, store 841.22 

Received fi-om license, wagon 203.17 

Received from sundries 274.91 



$8,718.65 



The expenses of the city during this period 
were $7,621.20. leaving, as the .statement says, 
"a balance of .$1,007.45 to apply on the debt." 
Reference to one item in the foregoing state- 
ment of the sources of revenue will give some 
idea of the increasing connnercial business of 
the place. The receipts from wharfage were 
increased $306.35. about one-third over the 
same in the preceding year. The tax levy for 
the year 1846 was established at one-half of 
one per cent for city ])urposes and one-eighth 
of one per cent for school purposes. 

The city again assumed the balance of the 
school debt and ordered the erection of a 
schoolhouse to be constructed in every respect 
like, and to be of equal cajtacity with that built 



io8 



PAST AND PKESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



the year before. Water street, rimniug south 
from the foot of Maine street, eighty feet west 
of and parallel to Front street, was by ordi- 
nance laid out. The first ordinance being 
faulty in description, a second was passed, but 
the measure met with hosts of opposition. Re- 
mou.stranees and claims for damages from near- 
ly every property holder along the river side 
poured into the council, but they were all dis- 
regarded and laid on the table. The street was 
never fully established and in time the tract 
was made a public landing. The ferry was 
free during the year, and an earnest attempt 
was made to have the city purchase or jjerpet- 
nally lease it, but witliout success, as no satis- 
factory terms could be made with the owners 
of the franchise. 

At the August election here, as it was 
throughout the state, there was less than the 
usual political interest felt. The whigs had not 
yet recovered from their unexpected and 
crushing defeat of 1844. French and Wells, 
the democratic candidates for governor and 
lieutenant governor, carried the county by 
about 350 majority, Dr. Ellis, the abolition 
candidate, receiving 98 votes. Judge Douglas 
was re-elected to congress, beating Dr. Vande- 
venter, the whig candidate, 281 votes in Adams 
county. For the legislature I. X. ilorris, "Wm. 
Hendrix and J. M. Seeliorn. democrats, were 
chosen over A. Williams, W. H. Tandy and 
Eichard Starr, by majorities from 150 to 200. 
Hendrix died in December, shortly after he had 
taken his seat. There was no senatorial elec- 
tion. Smith holding over. E. H. Buckley and 
Mason Wallace were elected from Marquette 
county pledged to oppose the organization of 
the county. Buckley took his seat in the legis- 
lature, but Wallace did not, and W. H. Chap- 
man, who had been a candidate, was admitted 
with Buckley and served during the session. 

Buckley ;.nd Chapman, thus elected and ad- 
mitted to the legislature, gave their attention 
to such course as would bring about the best 
correction of the count}* ditHculties whereof 
Quiney, as the county seat, was the original 
bone of contention, and this was judiciou.sly 
done. Chiefly through the influence of the 
former the name ]\Iar(|uette was changed to 
Highland : other boundaries Avere proposed, but 
the real action as arranged was to throw the 
whole issue forward for consideration in the 
constitutional convention, which was about to 
be called. In that convention, finally, in 1847, 
the matter came up and was settled at once 
and forever, by the engraftment in the new 
constitution of a comprehensive claiise, pre- 
sented and pressed to adoption by Mr. Wil- 
liams, the delegate from Adams county, to the 



effect that all unorganized counties or parts 
of counties should with the new constitution 
revert to the coimty from which they had been 
incompletely detached. 

Thus was ended this strife of half a dozen 
years, commenced for the purpose of removing 
the county seat from Quiney. It was a long, 
acrimonious, expensive struggle, and at last 
ended just where it began, with everything 
replaced in the old position. The city and 
county had been during the year constantly 
alive with meetings and excitements over this 
question and also over the ^Mormon matters, 
both of which vexatious troubles, happily for 
harmony, passed now out of existence. 

The last year appeared to see the Mormon 
difficulties overcome, but it was only on the 
sui'face. They ripened again in the summer 
of 1847, and, of com-se. Quiney had to partici- 
pate in the excitement. The determination of 
the people of Hancock county, outside of Xau- 
voo, which was .shared by those of the adjacent 
counties, that the Mormons would leave the 
state was met by an equally dogged determina- 
tion on the part of the "saints." that they 
would not go, and though many left, yet many 
renuiined, and a large jiortion of these were 
unable to leave. The military company from 
Quiney. which had been stationed at Xauvoo 
during the past winter to preserve order, was, 
with the exception of ten men, withdrawn in 
May. The idea that such a sqiiad could en- 
force law and preserve peace was farcical. The 
bitter hostility grew stronger and stronger. 
Each act of lawlessness was followed or offset 
by another. Finally, in the latter part of Au- 
gust, Col. Chittenden, of Mendon, in Adams 
county, one of the most prominent men of the 
county, was taken prisoner bj- the Mormons. 
He was only detained one day and night, but 
his capture caused the anti-]\Iormon feeling to 
break out beyond repression. A large and ex- 
cited meeting was held in Quiney. commit- 
tees were appointed, soldiers enlisted and simi- 
lar movements made elsewhere, residting in 
the assemblage of about nine hundred men 
from Hancock. Adams, Brown and the vicinity, 
under the leadership of Colonels Chittenden 
and Singleton, finally organized with Tom 
Brockman, of Mt. Sterling, as commander. This 
force took position in camp about half way 
between Carthage and X'auvoo. On the other 
hand, the ]\Iormons and those who were in 
sympathy with them in the city prepared for 
fight. The outcome was easily foreseen. 

The population at this time of X'auvoo was 
mainly women, children and men. not all of 
the most reputable stamp. By the 13th of 
September, two weeks after Chittenden's cap- 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



109 



lure, alnitist ;ill iit' the residents of Nauvoo 
had crossed the ^lississippi, and the Iowa hank 
of the river was swarming with these liapless, 
ragged exiles. The Mormon rule in Illinois was 
hroken to all ai)pearance and the sect dis- 
I)ersed, yet in October the governor had to 
make his a|)proiich for the third time, with an 
artillery fofce, to restore order and clear out 
the last of this misguided sect. And they left 
at last. A few settled in northern Illinois under 
the leadership of a son of their martyred 
prophet, another baud established itself on one 
of the islands in tiie northern part of Lake 
.Michigan, while the great body of them wended 
their wav westward to Salt Lake. 



CHAPTER XXV 



184 



SCHOOL DISTRICTS. S.\LE OF N. C. R. R. AU- 
THORIZED. ATTEMPT TO BUY FERRY. CEN- 
SUS TAKEN. FINANCE. NEW BUILDINGS. 
DEATH OF NOTABLE MEN. DELEGATES TO 
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. S. A. DOUG- 
LAS. CITY BOUNDARY EXTENDED. NEVINS 
ADDITION. WHY NO. 13TH. 15TH AND 17TH 
STREETS. 

Business during the winter of 1846-47 was 
not brisk as it had been in the preceding sea- 
son. Prices ruled at about the same, but there 
was a falling off, both in the pork packing and 
in the milling manufacture, of nearly one-fifth 
in amount as compared with the same periods 
in 184.J-16, and in the latter branch of business 
this decreased production continued through- 
out the year. About ten thousand barrels less 
of flour were nuuuifactured by the mills in 1847 
than in 1846. 

The winter was not severe. The river long 
remained open, atiFording fair navigation. It 
first closed on the 8th of January, remained so 
until the 21st of February, when it opened and 
conliinied free to the 20th of December. It 
then closed to open again on the next new-year 
day. 

At a special election on the 14th of January. 
John 'SI. Ruddle was chosen to the legislature 
to fill the vacancy nuide by the death of AVm. 
Hendry. The city council on the 4tli of Janu- 
ary prepared an application to the legislature 
for an amendment to the city charter so as to 
organize the city into separate school districts. 
The bill for this purpose was passed and ap- 
proved on the 27th of February. It created 
the "Quinoy School Di.strict," and placed the 
entire care and superintendence of the common 
school undei the control of the city council, 
authorizing also the appointment annually of a 
school superintendent, thus separating the 



schools from theii- previous association with 
the county ofiicials. The law was made de- 
pendent on its being adopted by a majority of 
the legal voters of the city. This was done at 
the April election by an almost unanimous vote. 

At this same session a bill passed the legis- 
lature authorizing a sale of the Northern Cross 
Haili-oad i>roi)erty, of which that part Ij'ing 
within the corporation limits from Twelfth 
street to the river had two j'ears before been re- 
liiKpiished to the city. The portion of the road 
from Quincy to the Illinois river was, under 
the authority of the above law, purchased by 
parties in Adams and Hrown counties and a 
comjiany was organized as the Northern Cross 
railroad company. This company, with the aid 
of county, city and personal subscriptions, con- 
structed the road from Quiney to Galesburg, 
which has since become the C, B. & Q., and at 
a later date, the same interest, somewhat 
changed, built the other jMU'tion from Camp 
Point to ileredosia. which luis since fallen into 
jjossession of the Wabash. But a very small 
l)ortion of the original line of survey was 
adopted by the new road as it is now com- 
pleted. 

Another of the many efforts made to place 
the city in i)ossession of the ferry was at- 
tempted but without success. Carlin and Rog- 
ers offered to sell the entire franchise of the 
ferry, boat, lauds and all for !{ilO,000, or with- 
out the land for .$8,000. This proposition was 
considered by the council on the 1st of Febru- 
ary and rejected, but at the following meeting 
in ]\Iareh they ottered to buy. for .$4,000, the 
"boats, fixtures and i)rivileges"' until the ex- 
I)iration of the lease in 1853. This proposition 
was not accepted by the ferry owners. 

A very thorough census of the city for school 
purposes Avas taken by J. U. Luce on the order 
of the city council, wdiich showed that on Jidy 
14th. there was a population, of those under 
twenty years of age, of 2,6:38, thus disti-ibuted : 
South of Broadway, 2,254 ; north of that street, 
.'{•'W; colored in the whole city. 45. The entire 
|>opulation of the city was 5.401 whites. 77 
blacks : total, 5,478. The tax assessment was 
fixed for the year as before, at ^ v, of 1 per cent 
for public ])urposes and Is "f 1 pcr cent for 
school pur])oses. 

The fiscal statement made in April professes 
to show the financial condition of Quiney at the 
expiration of this, its seventh year of existence 
as a city. A com]>arison of this statement with 
that of 1841 ami those of subsequent years, 
may show what lu-ogress had been made during 
this i)eriod ami how much it had cost to make 
this progress. The manner in which these an- 
nual exhibits wei'c made up then and often 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



since, has not always given the clearest idea of 
the situation, since no two aj)pear to have been 
gotten up on the same form, each city clerk 
rendering his statement according to his own 
fancy or his accountant training, and some- 
times, as it was unkindly asserted, willingly 
shaping it so as to bewilder and deceive. While 
this is not probable and figures are said to 
"never lie" yet there has been sometimes in 
our city history a good deal of difticidty in 
finding out the truths that the figures ought td 
tell. It was about this time that the city credit 
began to be clouded and its vouchei's bear a 
discount value, a condition that continued for 
the following twenty years, swelling every ex- 
pense that was incurred just in proportion to 
the depreciated value of the vouchers. The 
cause of this was the large number of vouch- 
ers issued and the size of the bonded debt, 
about $20,000. and yet seeming then as heavy 
as the nearly tine hundred times larger burden 
that has since been borne. 

In 1840 the city commenced its chartered ex- 
istence with no liabilities other than the old 
town of Quincy indebtedness, which became its 
heritage, amoiuiting to $1,100.36. less $355.99 
cash received from the town treasurer. So it 
started out with this light debt of $711.37. 

The fiscal statement April l.st, 1817, is as fol- 
lows : 

LIABILITIES. 

liiUs payable $22,108.99 

Treasury orders 246.92 

Vouchers 7.311.63 

Tax book 123.76 



Poorhouse 628.74 

Roads, etc 2,242.59 

Sundries 58.09 



$9,726.69 



$29,791.30 

RESOURCES. 
Less $1,511.43 $29,791.30 

RECEIPTS. 

Taxes were $ 4,892.66 

Wharfage 1.158.65 

Licenses 2,229.27 

Sundries 60.02 

Balance deficiencv 1.386.09 



$ 9.726.69 

EXPENSES. 

Fire department $ 282.37 

Cemeteries 215.69 

Salai-ies, etc 1.353.90 

Volunteers 254.55 

Tax titles 353.19 

Free ferry 350.00 

School, etc 1.973.23 

Nuisances 407.22 

Interest 1.050.59 

Cisterns 556.53 



The greater portion of this bonded debt or- 
iginated in the street grading and improve- 
ments absolutely necessary at the time. Quincy 
has been, on account of "the lay of the land," 
an expensive city to build up. Chicago. Peoria, 
Sin-ingtield and others lie leveled by nature for 
the settlers' use. Here, the grading plane had 
to be applied to almost every acre of our 
seamed and rugged city site. These improve- 
ments comprehended no very e.xtended space. 
Our limits Avere small as compared with what 
they have since become, and the pojiulation 
was rather compact. The city boundaries were 
Vine street on the north. Twelfth on the east 
and Jeiferson on the south, and it was within 
a small portion of this area that "improve- 
ments" work was done. The population was 
mostly confined to an area between Broadway 
and Ninth and Delaware streets. Less than 
one-seventh lived north of Broadway, a few 
houses were scattered between Ninth and 
Twelfth, while soutli of State and Delaware 
the land was all either under farm cultivation 
(U' was unenclosed forest. A considerable 
amount of substantial building improvement 
was done during this year, among the most no- 
table of which was the erection of the four 
three-story brick stores on Hampshire street 
north of the square on the site of the old Land 
Office liotel. This was the largest and best 
block of buildings tov stoi'e purposes that had 
yet been con.strueted in the city. These were 
still standing. They were immediately occu- 
pied and drew to Hampshire street the leading 
trade of the place, where it has largely re- 
mained. Before this time the buildings and 
business houses on the north side of the sqviare 
were mostly inferior, but the convenience of 
the street, having the longest level of any in 
the city and the easiest ascent from the river 
and also the best road out to the country, made 
it from this time, the principal business thor- 
oughfare. 

<,^uite a number of notable deaths occurred 
during this year, among those who had been 
prominent in the past histtiry of the place. Jo- 
seph T. Holmes, who. it may be fairly said, was 
the leading business spirit of the town in early 
days, died at Griggsville on the 13th of April. 
He was a native of ConnecticiTt.came to Quincy 
in 1831. engaged in mercantile and milling pur- 
suits, and was from the time of his arrival 
leadingly conspicuous in measures of enterprise 
and advancement. Afterwards he abandoned 



PAST AM) I'liKSKXT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



.secular business, studietl JVir tlu- luiuistry juul 
was pastor of the Gi'iggsville Congregiiliiuial 
church at the time of his death. 

The Rev. George Moore, who had been lor 
over six years ministering foi- tlu' I'nitarian 
Church, died of consumption on tlie 11th of 
]\rarcli. He was an eastern man of thorough 
education and scholarly tastes, with a gentle- 
ness and refinement of nature and manner that 
made him attractive in person and vocation, 
and greatly eoudiieed to the lutine prosperity 
of the sniidl society over wiiieh he ]ii-esided. 

Tlie JACvei'end S. S. Parr, a somewhat eccen- 
tric hut eloquent and forcible pulpit declaim- 
er. who had lieen for some yeai's j)reaching at 
the iild Hai)tist church on Fourth street, in this 
cit\'. where he always drew crowds to his even- 
ing sermiius. died in August at Hannibal, 
:\[o. 

Timothy Kelly, also, the most prominent 
i'e])resentative Irishman of early times, was 
killed at Buena Vista, on the '22nd of Feb- 
ruary. ^I\ieh symjiathy was aroused by his 
death, and public action was taken in regard 
to his memory, and provision for his family. 
It is a singular fact al)out ('apt. Kelly, as has 
been before mentioned, that, owing probably 
to the careless manner in which mililai'v rec- 
ords were then kcjit. his name, although his 
service and deatli in battle are well known, 
does not appear in the Ad.iutant General's 
reeor<l of the ilexican war soldiers, on the 
roster of Company E of the Second Illinois 
infantry, to which he was attached. A rather 
unfoi-tunate faux pas occui'red when Capt. 
Kelly's remains reached Quincy. under the 
care of Capt. (Judge) Lett. The Quincy vol- 
unteers of the First regiment had got back on 
the 9th of July, all of the original lumiber re- 
turniim- except six. who had died of disease. 

A barbecue was given them on the 17th. 
which was intended to be a jovial affaii'. A 
good deal of prepai'ation was made, and a 
large crowd gathered at the springs, im- 
mediately ea.st of where now Dick's brewery 
buildings stand. Preparations had also been 
made for a general dis]ilay at Capt. Kelly's 
funeral, when his body should arrive. The 
steamer came with the i-emains. while the bar- 
becue was in the height of progress, just as 
Mr. Browning was about commencing his ad- 
dress, and the barbecue was abandoned. This 
clashing of the two occasions, one of jollity, 
and the other of sadness, was unfortiniate. 
hut accidental. The following of Capt. Kelly's 
funeral was very large. lie was much re- 
spected in Quincy. 

On the call of the Governor. is.sued May 5th. 
for additicuml volunteei's. an attempt was 



made to raise a comi)any at t^iiiricy. but it 
did not succeeil. Some twenty enlistments 
were made here, and one of the four nu)unted 
rifle companies commanded by Capt. W. B. 
St a PI), rendezvoused, and was mustered in at 
this place, on the 10th of August. 

This and the ])receding year were the "ilex- 
ican wai- times." and there prevailed here, as 
there did everywhere else, the excitement al- 
ways attendant upon "war's alarms." Though 
the Mexican war was but a fire cracker event, 
contrasted with our l.ite civil war. and there 
could have then bi'eii nothing equal to the 
iiifense iiitei-est which absorbed all public 
thought and action during this late freshlj' 
remembereil struggle; yet a similar sentiment 
to a lighter degree existed, and "war talk" 
was the leading and foremost topic. Papers 
were eagerly scanned for news from ]\lexieo 
and Taylor and Scott were constantly follow- 
ed and formed the staple subjects of eu(piiry 
and couvei'sation. 

The first constitution of Illinois, formed in 
1818, at the time of the state's admission, 
had proved, or was thought to be, after thirty 
years' of operation, inadecpuite to the vastly 
increased and varied needs of the state. The 
real sentiment, however, that induced the call- 
ing of the convention of 1847 to revise the 
constitution was the pressing need of creating 
an organic law more stringent, more economic 
than that at the time existing, one which might 
better avail in raising the state from its de- 
pressed condition, pave a path toward the 
i-est(H-ation of its shattered credit, and invite 
an immigration which was now avoiding it. 
With a bonded debt, and defaulted interest 
thereon, the state securities rating at le.ss than 
twenty cents on the dollar, and auditor's war- 
rants selling at a discount, one can easily con- 
ceive the existing necessity for reformatory 
leiiislation. The convention of 1847 met the 
needs of the matter wisely and well, as the 
spring of prosperity that almost immediately 
followed after its action has abundantly 
proved. The legislature had. by an act of 
February 20. 1847, ordered an election to be 
held on the 19th of Ajiril. for delegates to 
frame a new state constitution. Tliis elec- 
tion was held, as it hajqiened in Quinc.y, at 
the same time with the regular city election. 
The whigs nominated as delegates to the con- 
vention, Archibald Williams, from Adams and 
Highland (formerly ^lai'quette^ against whom 
there was biit little opposition, and from 
Adams county, B. D. Steven.son. J. T. Gilmer 
aiul Heni-y Newton: the democratic nominees 
were : Wm. B. Powers, Wm. Laughlin and 
J. Nichols. Messrs. Williams. Powers, Laugh- 



112 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAilS COUNTY. 



liu and Nichols were elected. This convention 
met in the following June, and after nearly 
three months of session, framed a constitu- 
tion to be submitted to a popular vote for 
ratiiication in March, 1848. Its general fea- 
tures may be noticed hereafter. The special 
bearing that its provisions had upon Quincy 
and Adams comity, was the making of Adams 
and Pike, a senatorial district, and the final 
settlement of the county division quarrel, by 
prescribing in substance that all coimties not 
yet organized, should be re-attached to the 
eoiuities from which they had been taken. 
There had been, early in the year, the usual 
number of meetings and the average propor- 
tion of excitement over this vexatious old is- 
sue, but the constitutional provision above 
named, quieted it forever. 

At the city election, in April. John Wood, 
whig, was re-elected Mayor, over John Abbe, 
democrat, and H. T. Ellis, Thomas Redmond, 
H. L. Simmons (successor to Fred Johnson, 
resigned) democrats, and G. B. Dimock. were 
elected Aldermen. This gave the control of 
the council to the democrats, but after a pro- 
longed and somewhat personal contest. H. H. 
Snow, whig, was re-chosen clerk. 

A native American ticket for the city offices 
polled about 50 votes. At this same election 
an anti-license vote was successful, and also 
the amendment to the school law. before re- 
ferred to. which had been submitted for popu- 
lar ratification. 

The same rate of a.ssessment as in the pre- 
vious year — i/o of 1 per cent for public pur- 
poses, and Ys of 1 per cent for schools, was or- 
dered by the council. 

Mail facilities were now better. Besides the 
daily stage mails from the east, and semi- 
weekly mails to and from the adjoining coun- 
ties, there was the twice a week mail from 
St. Loiiis. by steamer. Newspaper enterprise 
was also on the increase. There were the two 
standard weeklies, the Herald and "Whig, also 
on the 24th of November, a small daily was 
issued by Homer Parr, and James Sanderson. 
This was the second venture towards the es- 
tablishment of a daily paper, and like its pre- 
decessor of the previous year, it lived not 
long. A German Catholic paper, also, the 
"Stern des Westen" (Star of the West) was 
started during the juonth of August. The 
foundation of the large Catholic Church, the 
St. Boniface, was laid on ]May 26th. with im- 
pressive ceremonies. 

Judge Douglas, who had been a resident of 
Quincy since 1841. when he was appointed as 
one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and 
was assigned to duty on the Quincy Circuit, 



had been chosen by the legislature, during the 
preceding winter, to succeed General Semple, 
as United States Senator. He resigned the 
seat Avhicli he had held in the lower house 
of Congress by three successive elections, and 
Wm. A. Richardson was elected by the demo- 
cratic convention to succeed him. Douglas 
was then the foremost man of his party in the 
state as he soon after this became equally its 
leader in the nation. He was a citizen of 
Quincy from 1841 until about 1852, when he 
removed to Chicago and was by far the most 
noted in his public career of any of the emi- 
nent men that Quincy has placed in political 
life. Although his state prominence had not 
been cradled in this section, it was from 
Quincy, as he expressed it, that he was "first 
placed upon a national career, where he was 
ever after kept." His five years' service, as 
a representative from this district, was ably 
followed by that of Col. Richardson, for the 
next nine years, with a subsequent election in 
1860, and afterward an election to the United 
States Senate to fill out the unexpired period 
of Senator Douglas' term, after the death of 
the latter. 

Col. Richardson was at the time of his elec- 
tion in 1847, a resident of Schuyler county, 
which he had represented almost continuously 
in the legislature, and had just now returned 
from the ^lexican war with a well earned 
reputation for bravery and skill. As the suc- 
cessor and confidential associate of Judge 
Douglas, and from his own inherent force of 
character, his position and influence in the 
national councils was always high. At the 
Aiignst election, he carried Adams county 
over N. G. Wilcox, the whig candidate, by 
819 majority. At the same election. P. A. 
<Tondwin. democrat, was elected Probate 
Judge over ]Miller, whig, the former incum- 
bent : J. C. Bernard, whig, over J. H. Luce, 
democrat. County Clerk, and J. H. Holton. In- 
dependent. Recorder, over Edward Pearson 
and J. D. ]\Iorgan. the whig and democratic 
nominees. The entire vote of the county was 
about 2.100. In the city, the local whig 
ticket, was successful. 

There was but little political feeling mani- 
fested in this election, although, during the 
canvass, the merits of the constitution, which 
was to be voted on in the following spring, 
were much discussed. It was coldly received, 
generally, by the democratic party, and final- 
ly met with much opposition. Several of its 
features were greatly distrusted. The elect- 
ive judiciary was an experiment about which 
many had doubts : the proposed change of the 
countv court svstem was another innovation 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



113 



that iiit't with i|iu'.stioii, and that whiuh lot-ally 
operated iiikhi it was the re((iiireinent of iiat- 
iirali/.at inn I'm- the fin'ciunci', licfore he could 
he allowed to vole. 

Until now. nntler the constitution of 1818, 
a si.\-nionths' residence in the state was all 
tluil was re(|uire(l to vest one with the riylit 
to sutTiaiic. A discussion of this (juestion. 
brought about, among some parties, an exam- 
ination of the poll lists, whieli resulted in an 
estimate, not of course accurate, but approxi- 
mating thereto, of the prol)able propoi'tion ol' 
the foreign-born 2'<>piilidion of the city which 
had. as yet. not been shown in any of the 
census" taken. From this, taking the names as 
they were spelled, an<l as they appeared on 
the poll books, nearly two-tifths of the voters, 
even at that eai-ly day, were Germans. The 
great (ierman immigration, to the city, which 
had eomineneed in 18;i') and 1836 Avas now 
steadily increasing, and reached it's maximum 
during this and the two following years, be- 
ing accelerated somewliat liy the political 
troubl(>s in Europe. Winter came in early, 
though in a mild form, heavy snows falling 
late in November, and l.ving on the ground 
through most of the season. 

The seasons of 1S47 were marked by the 
same peculiarity that has been observable dur- 
ing the last two years (unseasonable seasons 
they might well be called) variable and con- 
tradictoi'y. hot when it should be cool, and 
cold when warm weather would seem to be 
the rule, totally defying the wisdom of the 
weather prophets and tasking the brains of 
the "oldest inhabitant'' to remember the 
"likes of such weather." and along with this 
mutable weatlier. there were noticed changes 
among the sjiots on the sun, similar to those 
we have recently seen. Whether the new- 
"sun spots" of 1847 had anything to do with 
the spotted weather of that year, and whether 
the new sun specks seen in 1884-85 connect in 
any way with the speckled seasons of these 
last two ycai's, is a matter for scientific specs 
to examine into if it is worth the while, not 
for these sketches to determine : but the facts 
exi.st as above stated, and the coincidence is 
singular. 

The most sensational even of its character 
that had ever occurred here before or since, 
occiu'red this year, and created all of the in- 
tense local interest that is apt to attend such 
transa<'tiiins. It was the trial of Thurston J. 
TiUckett. for the murder of Wm. Maguor. The 
killing was done in the spring. The trial 
came off at the October term. The two men 
were printers, and more than usually inti- 
mate. A jealous suspicion on the part of 



l.uckctt caused an estrangement, and finally a 
i-e-encinnilcr and murder. 'J'hey met in the 
Clay hotel, and .Magnor was stabbed to death. 
The tiial created more interest than any that 
ever look place in Quincy. The court house 
was crannued. Luckett had wealthy associa- 
tions, anil nothing that money coidd furnish 
was wanting to aid his defense, lirowning 
tV: linshnell defendetl him. aided more or less 
by almost the entire bar. The prosecution 
was feebly conducted by the district attor- 
ney, who even left the city while the case w-as 
jirogi'essing, and it was indiscreetly handled 
liy Warren, who assisted him. and the result 
was Luckett's acfiuittal. The address of 
Browning to the .jury, on this occasion, was a 
most masterly siu-cess, which can never be for- 
gotten by those present. 

From a partial mention made of a few of 
the operating maiuifacturing interests, it ap- 
pears that there were at this time, eight flour- 
ing mills, with a daily full capacity of about 
eight hundred barrels; two saw mills; one 
planing mill which worked up, during the 
year, 550,000 feet of lumber; three distill- 
eries, Osboi-ne's. King's and Casey's, manufac- 
turing about GO barrels per day; one woolen 
factory, established the year before, and man- 
ufacturing during 1847 about 6,000 yards of 
flannel Kerseymere: one large tannery; three 
foundries: seven saddleries: twenty shoemaker 
shops. This, of course, names but a very few 
of the many industries of the city. Its im- 
provements had slowly extended, mostly to 
the northeast and south. As far south as 
Delaware street, it was fairly built up. south 
of that and State street there were scarcely 
any buildings. North of Broadway, except 
immediately along the North side of the street, 
was almost no settlement whatever. 

The improved portion of Quincy had not 
nnich expanded during the first eight years 
of the city's existence, and its scant propoi'- 
tions as it then appeared, contrasted greatly 
with the broad circling attractive area dotted 
with handsome homes and alive with populoiis 
movement that now gladdens the eye. The 
corporate limits continued nearly the same as 
those that had embraced the village at its city 
birth, in 1840, with but one change engrafted 
thereon. Vine. .Teft'erson and Twelfth, then 
calle(l Wood street, were yet the boundaries. 
During this year. 1847. Xevins' Addition com- 
IH-ising the 120 acres lying between Twelfth, 
Broadway. Eighteenth and Jersey was at- 
tached. 

This tract of land had been purchased dur- 
ing the wild speculative times of 1835 and 
18:56. l)y a wealthy eastern comi)any for $80.- 



114 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



000. $250 per acre, and it now was platted 
into lot.s. 60 in number, averaging two acres 
to each, and under the oi)eration of a clause 
in the early city's charter. Avhich prescribed 
that when any ''land ad.i'oining the city of 
Quincy shall have been laid oft' into town lots, 
and duly recorded as required by law, the 
same shall be annexed to and become a part 
of Quincy:" this, then open and ixnoccupied 
ground, now its most handsomely improved 
section, was, on the recording- of the plat, in 
Mai-ch, 1847, added to the city. The next ma- 
terial change in the shape of the city was 
made in 1857, when, by an amended charter, 
the northern boundary was moved three- 
fourths of a mile to Lociist street, the south- 
ern half-mile, to Harrison street, and the divid- 
ing line between Townships Eight and Nine, 
with two rods additional taken oft' the west 
side of Townshiji Eiglit, so as to include the 
whole of Twenty-fourth sti-eet, formed the 
eastern boundary. The legislative action 
which added to the city about twenty-five 
hundred acres of "farm land" was strenu- 
ously opposed by most of those whose land 
was thus captured, and many of whom were 
made citizens against their wish, but the pro- 
ject succeeded and became a law. 

Again, what was Avas known as the Insti- 
tute, or East Quincy, a tract of about 120 
acres boimded by Twenty-fourth, Broadway, 
Thirtieth, and a line on the south about equi- 
distant from Jersey and York extended, by 
a legislative addition to the charter was made 
a part of the city. These comprehend the 
present existing boundaries. The original 
city contained almost exactly 800 acres, 120 
more with the Nevins Addition : and the en- 
largement, of 1857 and 1867, have .swelled its 
area to somewhat more than thirty-five hun- 
dred acres, pi'ecision being impossible because 
of the irregular outline of the river boundary 
on the west. Such is the brief statement of 
our territorial changes and expansion during 
forty-five years. 

A short sketch of the Nevins Addition, 
above mentioned, as having been the earliest 
extension, will show more clearly than any 
other section the advances that have been 
made in property values, and is also worthy 
of note from some bearing that it has had 
upon the subsequent shaping of the city. This 
tract of land had cost its OAAaiers, as before 
stated, $30,000. For years it remained on 
their hands, an expense and unsalable. They 
often tried to sell it. for less than one-tliird 
of its original cost, but could not. 

Throughout the eight or ten years of "hard 
times," following after 1837-38. there was not 



to be found in Quincy any such sum of money 
to be invested in land for future speculation. 
Finally, on the suggestion of their agent, 
that, if divided into town lots, it might be 
sold oft' at such prices as would realize them 
the return of the original purchase, leaving 
out profit, interest, taxes, etc., they made and 
recorded a plat and authorized their agents 
to make sales in such proportion as would 
nearly recover to them the gross amount of 
tlie i)riucipal of their investment. This called 
for an average value of $500 to each of 
the 60 lots. The plat was prepared Avithout 
properly conforming to the lines of the old 
city siu-vey. and this neglect has been a 
source of much subsequent expense and 
trouble both to the city and to property own- 
ers. Some time passed before any sales were 
made, and tlien they commenced at very low 
figures, but such as will strangely contrast 
•with the rates of this time. 

Lot 1, measuring 5C7 feet, on Broadway, 
and 114 feet on Twelfth, was bought, in 1849, 
for .$400. During the present month a portion 
of this lot, fronting on Broadway, has been 
sold at the rate of $25.00 per foot; making a 
total estimate value to the lot of over $14,- 
000. Lot 38, also, 176 feet by 400, reaching 
from Maine to Hampshire, sold the same year 
for $475. The purchaser occupied and im- 
proved the lot at once, sold portions of it at 
increasing values from time to time and has 
now, within the last few weeks, sold out what 
he had remaining, being one-sixth of the en- 
tire lot, for $5,000. The other lots were sold 
generally in about the same proportion, gradu- 
ally increa.sing during four or five years ; the 
whole addition, thus sold, realizing to the ten 
stockholders of the company about $40,000, 
at ]irices varying from $3.50 to $7.50 per foot. 
These figures now seem small, but they are 
quite an advance on the first public sale of 
lots in Quincy tAventy-five years before, when, 
for instance, the entire front on the south side 
of Maine street, between Fourth and Fifth, 
was sold at auction by the county commis- 
sioners for seventy-six dollars, or ten and 
three quarter cents per foot. 

Tliis was the first large tract of land belong- 
ing to non-residents that had been oft'ered for 
sale, and it was all bought in by local pur- 
chasers, in most cases for their own use and 
occupancy. All the land in and ad.iacent to 
the south part of the city, was, and had long 
lieen, owned by John Wood, the Berrians, and 
S. B. :\Iunn ; that on the north by Willard 
Keyes and three or foiir other resident OAvn- 
ers, and tlie Droulard quarter, lying imme- 
diately east of the "original" toAvn had also 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



"5 



been pareelled out to sever-al resident own- 
ers. The defects in the pint of tlie Nevins 
addition, were, that it pi'(tvided no cross 
streets running' north and south, and that nei- 
ther Jersey nor Vermont street were aligned 
in conformity with the same streets as they 
lay in the city. The ad.jnstment of these er- 
rors had been troublesome and expensive, and 
that in regard to .Jers(>y street is not yet fully 
completed. It was on account of this tronble 
caused by this irregular survey that the now 
existing requirement was made that all x'li>ls 
of additions to the city shall be snbmitted to 
the council for approval before being placed 
on record. 

.Maine street, east of 'rwcinii. had been de- 
clared some time before; not running on a di- 
rect line east, but slightly detiectiug about half 
its own width so as to clear the north line of 
the old cemetery at Twenty-foui'th street. 

The alternate street plan, or double block 
distance between the streets which run north 
and south, was thus brought about. It was 
evident that sooner or later some such streets 
would have to be made, and the owner of the 
property at the corner of ]\Iaine and Four- 
teenth, seeing tliat if they were opened con- 
secutively, equidistant about 400 feet, as in 
the city west of Twelfth, his own ground 
would be cut in an undesirable shape. So, 
passing by Thirteenth, he secured the laying 
out of Fourteenth from Broadway to Jersey, 
alongside of his own property, and similar in- 
terests a few years later opened Sixteenth. 
The iloulton quarter was platted in the same 
manner, and the streets north and south of 
these additions have of necessity been made 
to conform. Foi' the uses that are now made 
of the ground thus laid out, this system of 
double blocks east and west is not incon- 
venient, and in some respects is preferable, al- 
though not advisable for the older and more 
business sections of the city. 

One can now hardly realize that at the time 
of which we write, 1847, there were between 
Twelfth and Twenty-fourth streets, but nine 
buildings : the residences of ^Ir. Moore and 
^Ir. Sherman, and their land otiiee near the 
corner of Chestiuit and Twenty-fourth: the 
Morton cottage, now Buckley's, and the ''Call 
and See" house, now White's, on Broadway, 
the Kingman house and Cooley's cottage, op- 
posite, at the corner of ilaine and Twelfth, and 
another near the corner of Jefi'erson and 
Twelfth. East of Twenty-fourth, at the In- 
stitute, there were a dozen oi- more dwellings. 
South of Jersey and between Ninth and 
Twelfth, there were oidy the houses of John 
Wood and Win. (icrrv. and a couple of cabins 



on the Berri;in <|uarter, and iiortli of Vine be- 
tween Ninth and Twelfth, about the same num- 
ber. So great has been the change in a gen- 
eration's time. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

1848. 

".SKIDDV TR.\CT" SOLD. NEW ST.\TE CONSTITU- 
TK).\'. JUDGE PURPLE. FIRST .STEAMBOAT 
HULL Bllll/r. TELEGRAPH INTRODUCED. 

KIR.ST lUmCCTORY. RAIL ROAD MEETING. 
H.ViaJOIl I.MPROVED. FIRE DEPARTMENT. 
WELLS. BULL. STONE. MORG.VN AND GREEN 
"RUN WITH THE M.\CHINP:." FISCAL FREE 
SOIL PAPER. THE TRIBUNE, ST.\RTED. W. A. 
RICHARDSON ELECTED TO CONGRESS. PRES- 
IDENTIAL ELECTION. FIRST FIREMAN PA- 
RADE. 

Another sale of a large tract of land occur- 
red during this year, the history of which bet- 
ter indicates the variations of value in real es- 
tate, such as have frequently been mentioned 
in these sketches, than does that of any other 
lands now embraced within the limits of the 
city. Its transfers were few until the time 
when live or six j^ears later than this (1848) 
it became a platted addition to (Juiney. This 
is the 160 acres in the northeastei'ii section of 
Quincy. long known as the "Skiddy quarter," 
now iloulton's Addition. I have in my pos- 
session and before me the original patent for 
this quarter section (160 acres), granted by 
the Ignited States in 1818, to Paul Bernard, 
for services as a soldier in the war of 1812. 
On the back of this parchment is the convey- 
ance made by Bernard of this tract during the 
same year to John R. Skiddy, for the sum of 
fifty-three dollars. The Skiddys kept the land 
until 1848 when they sold it for .$6,000. It 
was next platted in 1854 into eighty lots, aver- 
aging about two acres each, and sold at pub- 
lic auction fen- aljont $40,000. .$250 per acre. 
What its present value is or would be without 
the improvenuMits on it, any one may make his 
own estimate. 

The new State Constitution, framed by the 
convention which met at Springfield the sum- 
mer of 1847, was submitted to a popular vote 
for ratification or rejection, on the 6th of 
]\Iarch. There was a good deal of uncertainty 
attending the result. Its merits had been 
thoroughly canvassed and discussed during 
the preceding six months, and a strong oppo- 
sition had been developed in some sections of 
the state. This opposition generally came 
fi'om the democratic press, but was not suffi- 
cient to create a partisan issue. The delegates 
from Adams County to the convention from 
both political parties stood by their action 
there and were sustained. The leading pe- 
culiar feature of the constitution was its 



ii6 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



economic character, and the four points chiefly 
in discussion were the reduced rate of sal- 
aries ; the elective judiciary ; the clause pro- 
hibiting the advent to the state of free ne- 
groes, and the proposed tax of two mills on 
the dollar to be solely applied towards the re- 
duction of the public debt. These last two 
propositions were voted upon separately. 
Strangely enough the heaviest opposition 
made, was to the two mill tax, really the best 
feature in the entire instrument. In Adams 
county, out of a total vote of 2,241, the ma- 
jority for the constitution proper was 923, for 
the negro clause 571, and for the two mill tax 
53. The vote was proportionally thus through- 
out the state ; the constitution securing a ma- 
jority of 44,028; the negro exclusion clause 
28,182, and the two mill tax the much reduced 
majority of 10,431. Only one county (the ad- 
joining county of Brown) cast a majority vote 
against it. 

The new constitution having changed the ju- 
dicial system of the state by the creation of a 
separate supreme court in place of the court 
composed of the several circuit judges, and 
prescribing that these officials would be 
chosen by a popular election, instead of ap- 
pointed by the governor and senator, as here- 
tofore, elections therefor were held on the 
first Monday in September. Judge Purple, 
who had most acceptably presided in the cir 
cuit court of this county, declined to continue 
in this position, assigning as the reason, that 
he could not live on the $1,000 fixed by the 
constitution, as the salary for the circuit 
judges. His retirement from the bench was 
much regretted. He had earned distinction of 
being the most able and satisfactory judge in 
the line of capable jurists who had hitherto 
adorned the Adams county bench. 

It had been claimed and believed by many 
that the judicial elections would not become 
political, hut they did at once. Wni. A. 
Minshall, whig, of Schuyler county, and Wm. 
R. Archer, democrat, of Pike, became candi- 
dates for the place. Minshall was successful, 
although beaten in Adams county by about the 
party majority, 223 votes. He presided over 
this circuit until 1851, when a new circuit was 
formed consisting of Adams, Hancock, Hender- 
son and fiercer counties. At this same elec- 
tion R. S. Blackwell was elected prosecuting 
attorney over Elliott, Avho had formerly filled 
the office, and S. H. Treat was chosen without 
opposition to the supreme judgeship from this 
district. 

At the city election, April 17th, John Abbe, 
democrat, was elected mayor by a vote of 545 
to 506, over John Wood, whig, who had held 
the office successively through the past four 



years. The democrats carried the city, elec- 
ing Amos Green and H. L. Simmons, aldermen 
in the First and Second wards, and the whigs 
securing George Bond, in the Third. With 
this complete control, the entire city organiza- 
tion was made democratic. At this time, un- 
der the first charter, only the mayor, aldermen 
and city marshal were elected by the people, 
the other officers being chosen by the council. 
W. H. Benneson was made city clerk, dis- 
placing that veteran official. Judge Snow, and 
I. N. Grover, selected as superintendent of pub- 
lic schools. To his intelligent interest and ac- 
tion during this early period of its history, the 
cdiu'ational system of the city is greatly in- 
debted. 

A special census ordered by the city coun- 
cil, in connection with the public school mat- 
ters, and very carefulh' taken by I. O. Wood- 
ruff, gave a total population on the 16th of 
:\Iay, 'of 5,896 ; white males, 2,953, white fe- 
males, 2.841 ; blacks, males, 52, females, 49. 

The winter of '47-48 was long, but mild. A 
great deal of snow fell early, often and late, 
affording almost uninterrupted good sleighing 
throughout the winter. There was as late as 
March 6th, the day of the election on the new 
constitution, a snow storm of unusual severity. 

The first steamboat hull constructed in 
Quincy was during this year. It was set up 
at the foot of Delaware street, and was launch- 
ed on the 18th of ]\Iarch. The advantages of 
Quincy, as a steamboat building point, with 
the convenient harbor of its "bay," had been 
in earlier times much dwelt upon, and hence 
this launch was quite an affair and attracted 
a large concourse of people. The hull was 
successfully set afloat, and towed down to St. 
Louis, to be completed and receive its ma- 
chinery. 

Telegraphic comnuniieation with the outside 
world was established in the summer of this 
year. It had been nnich delayed by a con- 
troversy between the O'Rielly, and the Ken- 
dall & Smith interests, which had extended 
all over the west. Quincy was called upon for 
a subscription of .$10,000. At a public meet- 
ing held on the 26th of February, $7,200 was 
subscribed. Soon after the full amount was 
made up. (jn the 8th of July the Avires were 
brought into Quincy. The first formal mes- 
sage transmitted was from Sylve.ster Emmons, 
at Beardstown, to the Quincy Whig, to Avhich 
a reply was sent, as the Whig mentioned it, 
"Quick as lightning." On the 12th, the line 
was completed from Beardstown to Spring- 
field, making a connection Avith St. Louis. 

The Quincy Library. noAv in the seventh 
year of its existence, reported having on its 
shelves thirteen hundred vohimes, and also the 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



117 



possession of a vahiiihle philosophical aj)- 
paratus. 

The first ■■directory" of the city no\v made 
its appearance. It was a crude afVair, as coti- 
trasted with those of later days, but answered 
the wants of the time. It was gotten up by 
a Dr. Ware, also a .stranger in the city. He 
was an eccentric man. lie projected about 
this time, what he called a "^lutual Political 
•lotii'iial.'" It was to be a novelty in tiiis way. 
One-half was to be edited by a Whig, and the 
other by a Democrat, so that the pai'ties could 
fight their battles on the one field. The proj- 
ect died aliout the time that it was born. 
There had before this, been two attempts at 
making up a directory, but they were trifling, 
and this one of Ware's may l)e fairly called the 
first complete one. siicli as it was. 

Quincy had as yet. uo railroad facilities, or 
"railroad felicities," as it was ignorantly but 
felicitionsly expressed by a blundering member 
of the Legislature, who did not realize his own 
apt perversion of language when he thus styled 
them. The only railroad in actual operation 
in the state at this time was that completed 
portion of the Northern Cross Road (now the 
Wabash) between Springfield and Naples, 
■which was all that had cropped out from the 
great Internal Improvement system of 1836. 
This magnificent plan which was to have 
spider-webbed all Illinois -with iron, and upon 
which millions of money had been -wasted, was 
now dead, beyond all resurrection, and with 
it had sunk the credit of the state, but a fever- 
ish feeling was everywhere prevalent that the 
interior resources of the state outside the range 
of lake and river navigation should be reached 
after and developed. Railroad meetings 
had been held here in December, 1847, and in 
January and later in the year 1848. These 
movements culminated soon after in the build- 
ings of the C. B. & Q., and afterward, the Wa- 
bash to Quincy and the commencement of our 
great railroad bond indebtedness. The state 
sold its unfinished railroads; and that portion 
of the "Northern Cross" west of the Illinois 
river, upon which some hundreds of thousands 
of dollars had been expended, was purchased 
by parties in Adams and Brown coTinties for 
$8,000. The company commenced work, but 
not very successfully, and finally merged their 
ownership and interests with the city by 
whose large subscription maiidy the roads 
were constructed. 

The city council with an eye, that it has al- 
ways had, sometimes with more zeal than 
judgment, towards advancing the material gen- 
eral prosperity of the city, appropriated $500 
towards the improvement of the harbor con- 



ilitioned on the citizens subscribing an equal 
amount. The apin-o]ii'iation stood, but the in- 
dividual subscriptions were laggard. At their 
May meeting the council, acceding to the re- 
([uest of the city council of Alton, passed reso- 
tions of remonstrance against the action of 
the city of St. Louis in the building of a dyke 
from Bloody Island to the Illinois shore, thus 
forcintr fhe Mississipiii into the narrow channel 
that it now has between this island and the 
Jlissouri .shore. This was the commencement 
of a controversy between Illinois and Missouri 
interests, which lasted, and controlled our leg- 
islature for the following fifteen years. The 
issue was, that all public improvements in Il- 
linois .should be for the benefit solely of points 
in Illinois, and not for places in either of the 
states on our eastern or western boundary. 
That is all forgotten now. 

The fire department, which Quincy has al- 
ways had reason to pride itself on, took its best 
start this year. Its inception was in 1838 
when the town bought four ladders, twelve 
buckets and six firehooks, which led at once 
to the formation of a hook and ladder com- 
pany. This was followed in 1839 by the pur- 
chase of a fire engine at a cost of $1,125, and 
the organization of Fire company No. 1. It 
would be amusing now to read the list of the 
now "grave and revered seniors," Wells, 
Bull, Stone, ]\Iorgan, Green and others, the 
young bucks of that time who "ran with the 
machine." Another engine, a second-hand one 
from St. Louis, the "Marion," was purchased 
by the city for the sum of $600, a company, No. 
2, formed of siinilar men to those above named 
and from the emulation that sprang at once 
came the high efficiency and repute which this 
department of the city institutions has always 
maintained. 

The annual fiscal statement for the year end- 
ing April. 1848, exhibited a much larger reve- 
nue than that of any of the preceding eight 
years, and also a cori'esjionding increase of ex- 
])enditure. The total expense record of the 
city was $15,794.05, and as showing how and 
where the money went, among the larger items 
of account were for salaries, $1,547.86 ; streets, 
$2,600: schools, $1,841.88: poorhouse and pau- 
pers. $1,142.46: public landing, $635.65; inter- 
est on debt. $1,498.90; fire department, $258.88. 
There was received from taxes. $6.271 ; wharf- 
age. $1,147.31: licenses, $2.6.56.97. 

The bonded debt at this time was compara- 
tively small and the interest was regularly 
met. The credit of the city was good, vouch- 
ers generally passed at a little less than face 
value, and it was not until some years later 
that thev declined to the ruinous rate of dis- 



ii8 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



count under which they weakened for twenty 
years or more. It was a costly after-page in 
the city history, when for many years, its war- 
rants and vouchers bore a depreciated value of 
from thirty to forty percent, causing an equiv- 
alent addition to the cost of every public im- 
provement or expenditure and adding just so 
much more to the increasing pecuniary bur- 
den. The usual tax levy was ordered of 1 2 of 
one per cent for general and ^s of one per cent 
for school purposes. The schools were now in 
a prosperous and improving condition. An 
attempt was made by the colored citizens to 
obtain a separate public school. Several meet- 
ings were held and the council was petitioned 
in^that behalf, but the matter was deferred 
and nothing came of it. 

The past experiments of the city in running 
the ferry had never given satisfaction and it 
was now licensed to the charter owners for 
$61 per month. 

The winter business of 1S47-1S figured up 
fairly, the price of hogs ran from $1.75 to 
$2.15, and 19,906 were reported as packed, the 
largest muuber yet known. Wheat through 
the season averaged about 75 cents. The mills 
reported in the fall about 3,000 bushels ground 
daily. Quite a loss to the place occurred on 
the ISth of September in the destruction by 
fire of Miller's woolen factory, which had been 
well operated for the past two years. A se- 
vere toraado struck the city on the "2 1st of 
June, destroying several buildings and doing a 
good deal of general damage. 

Another weekly newspaper made its appear- 
ance on the 13th of September. It was called 
the Quiney Tribune and Free Soil Banner, 
edited by an association of gentlemen. It was 
as its name indicated, an anti-slavery exten- 
sion or '■'Wilmot proviso" journal and sup- 
ported the Van Buren and Adams electoral 
tickets. It was spicily conducted during the 
campaign, but the publication ceased in the 
following year. On the first of December was 
issued the Western Law Journal, edited by 
Charles Gilman, reporter for the Illinois Su- 
preme Court. It was the first legal journal of 
its kind in the state and continued in monthly 
publication until the death of its editor a year 
or two later. 

At the August election, the last which was 
held in that month, the new constitution hav- 
ing changed the time to November, Wm. A. 
Eichardson was re-elected to congress without 
opposition, and the democrats carried the 
county by majorities varying from 200 to 350. 
0. C. Skinner, J. Marritt and Jonathan Dear- 
born were elected to the house over B. D. Stev- 
enson, J. Irwin and Hans Patten, the district 
embracing Adams and Brown counties: H. L. 



Sutphin was chosen state senator from Adams 
and Pike, beating Archibald Williams five 
votes in Adams and much more in Pike. There 
was a good deal of interest over the election of 
circuit clerk and recorder. It was the first 
time this office had become elective. Abraham 
Jonas was the whig candidate and Peter Lott, 
I. O. W^oodrufic and C. M. Woods were in the 
field as democratic candidates. The day be- 
fore the election the latter two withdrew in 
favor of Lott. who was thus successful over 
Jonas by 323 majority. 

The pre.sidential election in 1848 was 
marked by the earnestness and excitement 
wliich always attends these contests, but it 
possessed a peculiar interest from the presence 
of a third factor in the field. This was the 
free soil party, with ^Martin Van Buren and. 
Charles Francis Adams as its candidates for 
the Presidency and Vice Presidencj*. This 
movement operated powerfully in the north- 
eastern states and to a lighter degree in the 
west, but it cut sufficiently into both of the two 
great parties everywhere to shadow the result 
with uncertainty. The close completeness of 
this canvass and the vote drawn out. is shown 
by the fact that at the state election in August 
the highest total vote cast in Adams county 
(now consolidated by rei;nion with Marquette) 
was 3,329 ; while three months later in No- 
vember, at the presidential election, these fig- 
ures rose to 4.488. out of which Cass, the demo- 
cratic n(uninee, received 203 more than Ta^'lor, 
the whig candidate. This majority was all 
made in the citj', the county vote outside of 
Quiney being an exact tie between the two. 
Van Buren 's vote was 261. The election lay 
undecided for several days, and it was not 
until late on the night of Friday after the day 
of election, that the telegraph brought the re- 
turns from three southern states assiiring the 
victory to the whigs. 

The city was made lively at once, but the 
result had been so long in doubt and each side 
was so hopeful that for awhile both parties 
were on the hurrah, and it took some time for 
tliem to unmix and the beaten ones to go 
to bed again. An odd little incident oc- 
curred in connection with this election. It 
was the first election by ballot that had been 
held in the state, and the writer, with another, 
started out the day before to distribute the 
printed whig tickets at several precincts in the 
county, and voted at one of them on the day 
following. It happened that there were no 
Van Buren tickets there, and several sturdy 
democrats were present who had long looked 
to IMr. Van Buren as their political leader, and 
were desirous of voting for him. No one knew 
the names of the free soil electors, and we 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



119 



were called upon, but could only remembei" the 
two loading names. These we gave, and a 
ticket was written out, headed with Van Bu- 
ren's nanu' and these two electors only, which 
received some ten or fifteen votes. These were 
counted and canvassed, no exception being 
taken, a procedure that would not go tlirough 
anywhere nowadays, unless in Chicago. 

The first fireman's parade, of which the city 
has since had so many, came off on the 4th of 
July. It was a successful event. The two 
(^uiiicy companies and a visiting company 
from St. Ijouis formed the procession and par- 
ticipated in the contests. A pleasant episode 
occurred on the 26th of October, on the occa- 
sion of the retirement of Judge Piu'ple from 
the bench where he had so popularly presided 
for several years. It was the presentation of 
an address and resolution of regret to which 
the Judge feelingly responded, which was fol- 
lowed by a farewell bancjuet given by the 
members of the bar. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



1849. 

TAXATION OP CITY PROPERTY FOR COUNTY 
PURPOSES. PUBLIC READING ROOM. PE- 
M.4LE SEMINARY' EST.\BLISHED ON MAINE 
STREET. FIN.\NCIAL. CHOLERA. CALIFOR- 
NIA EMIGRATION. J. M. HOLMES. THESPIAN 
SOCIETY. PICKETT, THE F.\MOUS CONFED- 
ERATE GENERAL, AN AMATEUR ACTOR. POP- 
ULAR LECTURES. LIBRAKY. SLANDER SUIT 
OF BROOKS AND BARTLETT. RAILROADS 
AGAIN. CHANGE IN COUNTY GOVERNMENT. 

The vexed matter of the taxation of city 
property for county purposes became a matter 
of consideration and conference lietween com- 
mittees of the city council and the county com- 
missioners, but there was no i-esult reached. 
At the November election the question of 
adopting township organization for the county 
was submitted and carried by a vote of 1754 
to 453, every precinct in the county voting for 
the nu^asure except Quincy. where the vote 
stood 228 for to 276 against, the Quincy vote 
being largely influenced by the belief of many 
that if the citj^ became a township it wotdd in- 
jure its chances of remaining as the county 
seat. This was unfortunate. Heretofore the 
estrangement between city and county had 
been caused by the county seat (piarrel. Now, 
and for nearly forty years after, there was 
added to this the issue of unequal taxation. 
That the Quincy people had some foundation 
for their fears is shown by the fact that in De- 
cember an effort was made to re-open the old 
county seat matter through an application to 
the county court to have the ease reinstated. 
It did not. however, prevail. 



The cause of most of the discordance be- 
tween the city and county was an article in the 
first charter, passed by the Legislature, in 
1840, exempting "the inhabitants of the city of 
Quincy ***** from any tax for coun- 
ty puri)oses. excei)t for the completion of the 
county .jail, now being erected in said city." 
This i)uerih> jjrovision (juietly interpolated into 
the charter with tiie thought perhaps that 
something might t)e gained thereby, attracted 
but little attention at first, but soon after 
proved to be a ' {'andorii's box" of evil and 
dissension. It was luuiecessary. as subsequent 
history has shown, but it long served as a 
soiu-i'c from which prejudice, jealousy, per- 
sonal interests, and political demagoguery 
could always make nuiterial for discord and 
strife. This is to a great degree now allayed, 
but it was throughout the lifetime of a genera- 
tion and a half an ever festering sore. 

A public i-eading room, which had been 
started late in the fall preceding, on quite an 
extensive scale, flourished well through the 
early part of this year. Its rooms were on 
Fourth sti'eet. between Maine and Jersey, and 
it announced as having on its files over 60 
news|);ipers. It was popularly patronized for 
a brief time, but, like .several other institutions 
of the same kind in the past, its life was brief, 
scarcely reaching into the second year. 

Educational interests were roused by the 
comiuu- to the city of ^liss Catherine Beecher, 
of the well-known Beecher family, who had de- 
voted herself to the establishment of female 
schools. Under the stiuuilus of ]\Iiss Beecher's 
prestige and presence much intei-est was 
awakened and at a public meeting on May 31 
the project was set on foot to establish a first- 
class female seminary, many of the leading 
people giving favor to the enterprise. It con- 
templated an expenditure of $10,000 in ground, 
buildings, etc. The school was located on 
]Maine, near the corner of Sixth street, and 
connnenced with high expectations. It was 
superior to any that had preceded it. but it 
fiiuilly went the way of the others, after a 
duration measured nuu'e by months than by 
years. 

The annual fiscal statement for the year end- 
ing April 1, 1849, gave a clearer idea in its de- 
tail and sununary of the fiiuincial condition of 
the city, than had been usually made in these 
jieriodical exhibits. From that it appears that 
the receipts into the treasury, from all sources 
had been, during the year,' $12,718.92; while 
the expenditures during the same period were 
$12,217.88. The liabilities of the city were 
placed at $35,834.65, a large portion of which 
was the outstanding vouchers. The debt of 



I20 



PAST AXD PRESENT OF ADA3IS COUNTY. 



the eity, as summarized in this statement, was : 
Treasury orders. ^24:6.1>2: bills payable. 1^5.- 
056.19: vouchers in eireidatiou. ^1,927.39; to- 
tal. ^7 .230.-30. It was an importanr period in 
the liuaui'ial reoonl of the city, for the reason 
that during this year there eame the first large 
demand for the pajTuent of the outstanding 
and matured eity bonds, which now had to be 
paid or provided for in some way. and with 
this eame also as the necessiiry consequence — 
Quiney"s tirst exj»erimeut in "" refunding."" 
This bei'ame now a necessitj- and it was at- 
tended to later in the year, as will be told in 
its time and place, but it struck at a time when 
the city credit was at a very low ebb. and. of 
course, we had to pay for it. The eiu-rent ex- 
penses of the past year were not large. The 
street appropriations were very small com- 
pared with those of earlier years, being but 
^.TllJlo; the ferry, always an annoyance and 
expense, had cvvst ^1,->.32.S6: and the tire de- 
partment had needed #1.124.21. To these, add 
the interest aecoimt of *lj!93.12, and all the 
chief items over #1,000.00 of expenditure are 
reoited. Yet there were many minor expenses 
which swelled the total of expenditure to an 
equalitj- with the reeeipts, leaving nothing 
wherewith to meet the accruing debt. 

ilr. Conyersv wLo was chosen mayor now for 
the third time, having been elected in 1S42 and 
li^3 and a candidate for the same in 1544. He 
was a man of much perst>nal popularity and 
usefulness as a public citizen. Beside the serv- 
ice he had rendered the city as mayor, he had 
formerly been one of the town trustees, and 
had also held other positions of public trust- 
It was his fate to die of cholera three months 
after his election, honored and lamented. He 
was the tirst mayor who died in office. There 
has been but one like occurrence since. W. T. 
Kogers died in ISSO. near the close of his sec- 
ond term. The office vacated by the death of 
Mayor Conyers was filled at a special election, 
on August 20- when Samuel Holmes was 
chosen, ilr- Holmes had just been removed 
from the pvvsition of re, -* f the public land 
office ■which he had a fille>il. He wns 

an enterprising and • ' _ . an 

extreme partisan. N^ _ - - r to 

his election. 

The change of adminfatration by the elec- 
tion of Taylor as President in 1S4S, made the 
usual offi '" ■ :i ges here, whigs easily ad- 

jtisting t - - to the seats that had been 
for vear^ - - ^ Abraham 

Jonas be - - :: Dr. S. "W. 

Kogers, Arehi'oald "^•" ~ < y- ::-ted 

Fnited States District -.:: -ry i;r iHmois- 
Dr. Hiram Kogers and Samuel Hohnes, Re- 
ceiver and Register of the public land office. 



were succeeded respectively by H. V. Sullivan 
and Henry Asbtury. 

The city debt question occupied the atten- 
tion of the coimcU throughout the first six 
months of their sessions. At the first meeting 
on May 1st the subject came up and a resolu- 
tion passed authorizing a loan of #20.000 and 
the issuing of an equal amount of bonds bear- 
ing six per cent interest. Some irregidarities 
in the early proceedings, the death of the 
mayor and other causes, delayed the consiun- 
mation of this project, although it was con- 
stantly before the cotmeil until October 26. 
when the order passed tipon which the transac- 
tion was completed, and twenty '" Special Loan 
Bonds'" of #1.000 each, drawing 6 per cent in- 
terest, were issued and immediately ptirchased 
by Page & Bacon, of St. Louis, for eighty cents 
on the dollar, the coiuieil ratifying the sale- 
At this time (October' Mayor Holmes officially 
published the entire corporation debt as 
amoimting to #2S.642.03. drawing six per cent 
interest, that #15.005.70 was now due. and that 
the city revenue was fl3,5<X>. In this state- 
ment he did not mention the property owned 
by the city, which would have fairly footed up 
to an amount much over its indebtedness. The 
city was then unquestionably solvent. Propo- 
sitions looking to economy and limitation of 
expenditures were made and to some extent 
carried out. The salary of the mayor and of 
the city clerk was fixed at #2-50 each, and like 
measures taken towards curtailment. This 
was an expensive year on account of the chol- 
era which raged so fatally through the hot 
months- and the consequent depresion of busi- 
ness and other causes. 

This was a gloomy and depressed period f or 
Quincy. as it was for nearly every other place 
in the west. Pestilenc-e placed its paralyzing 
hand on all interests with a grasp and weight 
that can only be realized by those who have 
felt its dark experience. The conditions of 
sixteen years before were repeated, when, pre- 
ceded by two sickly seasons of fever, the Asiatic 
choler; ' ■ — ■:=. ted. within one week, the en- 
tire r - of the little village, then eon- 
ta' _ -.vs^en four and five hrLEidred pet:.ple. 
il ^ '?arly seTtlers still vivi.lly retained 
an ap; - -z of the sad scenes 

throuii.- :_;. ^::ie during that brief 

visitation of this desolating scourge. The 
smallpox, a more odious pest than the choleira, 
had in the winter and early ^ring prevailed 
to such an extent as to arouse pubKe alarm and 
to call for the preventive aeti-:'!! of the author- 
ities, in the preseribiE ~ _ Ination. 
is^-ilation of the sick. e>' - ^ — : house, 
etc. Its ravages had nearly ceased, when the 
more fearful foe appeared, not unexpectedly. 



I'AS'I' A\n PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



121 



'Flic iiiii'crtaiiil ii's llijil s\iiT()un(lccl its .st(.'altli>' 
coining -^ave it '.aicloii by its cliiei agent , 
Fi-iglit.) a tjreatly iiifreased fatality. 

Dui'inu- the ])r('ci'(lin<i- year it iiatl swept 
Iin'(iu>;h the seaboartl and lake eities and early 
in the spring developed itself in the Slissis- 
sijtpi Valley, cominfr u])on Qnincy like a liglit- 
ning stroke. On Saturday. .March 17th. tive 
i-ases were I'epoi'ted. all oT wiiich ])riivcd fatal 
(iiiring the niirht and Sunday. 'I'wn nf them 
were foui- miles north in the country, at Mil- 
ler's oi' Leonartl's .Mill. The other three were 
in the south part of tlu' city. Only one more 
death occurred diu'ing this month. ;ind none in 
.\pril. thus giving ho])e that the lilast had 
passed by, but with a like suddenm^ss it reap- 
peared on the 13th of jMay, when tive deaths 
wore reported, and before tiie end of the 
montli seven additional fatal eases occurred : 
\-et on the 1st of June and for the following 
ten days there were none. l-?nt. with a dead- 
lier stroke it returned for the third time, on 
the 11th of June, and from that time continued 
to increase in the numbei' of cases and malig- 
nancy, up to tlie 4th week in July, when it 
commenced abating. Altont the first week in 
September it finally disappeared. 

How it affected public feeling and I)usiness 
is expre.s.sed by tlie Whig, whieh, in its issue of 
July 10th, says: "The sicknes.s last week, and 
the increased nunJjer of deaths, seems to have 
spi'ead a gloom over the city, visible in the 
counteiumces of all. It is indeed a trying time 
in the hi.story of Quincy. All bu.siness in a 
measure is suspended. Our country friends 
seem to have deserted us. but few visit the 
city, and those only who are com()elled to do 
so, to provide tlie necessaries foi' the harvest. 
Travel, to a great extent, on tlu> river, is sus- 
Iiended for the present, and the packets now 
plying between this city and St. Louis are 
probably not paj'ing expenses. How long this 
state of gloom and despoiulency is tct last, the 
(ireat Disposer of events only knows." 

Two hiuidred and thirty-six deaths from 
cholera were officially rc])oi'ted as late as the 
latter part of August, when the disease had 
nearly I'un its course, but this record is de- 
fective, since many burials Avere unreported. 
The distinction between deaths from "chol- 
era" and "other causes" was for reasons that 
will be tuiderstood, usually made to disci'edit 
the extent of the epidemic so as to allay appre- 
lu'nsion. An addition of at least oiu; hundred 
to the above figures would be not far from 
correct. Tlie heaviest mortality was in the last 
week in July, when 44 deaths were reported, 
the total number reported for this month be- 
ing 142, and the most deaths on any one day 
being 15 on the 29th. 



Beside its free ravage among the inimigrauts 
it found a field among the families which, be- 
<-ausc of the uinisually high water, were driven 
fr-oin the bottom lands, neai' the city, and had 
crowded themselves together in temporary 
homes. Therein was a feast for the pest. In 
one house, thus occupied, on \'oi-mont street, 
eiiiht died within three days. In a (ierman 
family, on the corner of Jefferson atid Seventh, 
ciuisisting of eight persons, all died save one, 
an infant. It destroyed entire families. The 
wife of a well-known ]Magistrate. I'rentiss, was 
taken by it and died on Jlonday. On Thurs- 
day the grave was opened for the husband. 
Dr. Stahl, the earliest German physician, who 
had more to do with the disease than any other, 
lost his wife and child almost at the .same time. 
Dr. Barlow rode out to vi.sit a patient, a mile 
east of the city, was there eauglit by the chol- 
era and tlied, and in a week his wife followed 
him. The Mayor of the city, Enoch Conyers, a 
man of rather unu.sual physical health and reg- 
ularity of life, was suddenly cut down (ui the 
21st of July, liusk, a i)rominent Odd Fellow, 
died, "of cholci-a," and was buried by his 
lodge on the 2:ird. Charles (iilman, a i)ronii- 
nent lawyer, reporter for the Supreme Court, 
attended this funeral, oiifieiated, and in the 
morning he was dead. No appreciation of the 
condition can be derived from description, nor 
can any words [)icture the general despondence 
of feeling. The morning enquiry was: "Who 
is dead ?" 

Singularly enough, during all this time, 
while twice the epidemic had apparently left 
the city, it continuously infected the steam- 
boats plying the river. In early June, at a 
time when there were no cases in tlie city, a 
steamer — the I'ncle Toby — passed up the river, 
landed here with three dead bodies on board 
and before it reached Rock Island there were 
twenty-four more added to the death li.st. 

Public meetings were held to demand more 
comi)lete .sanitary measures, and the council 
ordci'cd the examination of all strangers com- 
ing into the city, appointed inspectors of 
he;dth for each ward, made free appropriations, 
established a pest house, etc., but the disease 
had its own way, and it was proven that no 
measures can evei- drive away this fell de- 
sti'oyei- when ])reventive precautions have been 
negliH'ted. 

It is a curicuis fact connected with the chol- 
era record of Qnincy, a fact that perhaps may 
be worth scientific investigation, that on its 
first and second brief visits the victims were 
almost wholly strangers. Five of the six who 
died hei-e in March and nine out of the twelve 
i-ei)orted in May, were non-residents or new- 
comers, but on the third appearance in June, it 



122 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



struck equally at all classes of the coinmuuitj-, 
although its ravages were more general among 
the Gernum citizens. It then seemed to have 
thoroughly planted itself and pervaded the 
place so that neither vigorous health, regular- 
ity of life, careful precaution and avoidance 
of conditions which were supposed to invite 
the epidemic, were safeguards from attack. 
When it reappeared during the two following 
years of 1850 and 1851, though with far less 
fatal effect, the cases were isolated and in all 
ranks of society. This peculiarity led to the 
prediction, favored by some very high medical 
authority, that the cholera had or would be- 
come a permanent disease of the Mississii^pi 
valley, as much so as it is reckoned to be in 
the valley of the Ganges, a prophecy which was 
dissipated by after experiences, and now is no 
longer regarded. Fright was the plague's best 
ally, as it was in 1832. 

It is said that a prominent lawyer, who was 
afterward a supreme .judge and governor of 
the state, hearing, while at breakfast, that the 
"cholera had come," gathered his family and 
what of furniture he could hastily pack, and 
hurried away as fast as horseflesh could draw 
him, leaving his house open and the breakfast 
dishes still on the table. In many cases people 
fled in almost equal haste at this time, and it 
not infref|uently hajipened that they took the 
disease Avith them. The spread of the epidemic 
was, however, slight in the adjacent portions 
of' the county. 



CALIFORNIA EMIGRATION. 

California emigration was tlie great all ab- 
sorbing event of this year. The gold discov- 
eries on the Pacific coats in the preceding year 
aroused and fostered a fever of excitement 
and restlessness such as the country had never 
before known and can never know again ; irre- 
sistible in its spread and permeating every 
class and condition of society. Though cupid- 
ity and gold getting was the primal incentive, 
and the basis of this great movement, yet the 
activity of almost every other restless passion 
gave to it an added stimulus. Curiosity, the 
spii-it of adventure, love of novelty, the con- 
tagion of that feeling which makes men rush 
in wherever others are. so started a swarm of 
human wanderers, such as on this continent 
will never again be witnessed. Flowing from 
every section of the land, the imited adven- 
turesomeness of the east, south and north 
poured itself in an increasing stream, across 
the great grass plains, and through the lone 
gorges of the rough rock mountains on the 
pathway to the promised land of gold. 



Every hamlet and nearly every home sent 
forth its wanderer, and with the earliest open- 
ing of spring the green prairies were whitened 
by the long caravans of Avagons carrying with 
them hard.v and adA'enturous gold seekers. 

California was the common topic of thought 
and talk. The excitement of this unprece- 
dented gold fever Avas uniA-ersal, infecting all 
ages, classes and conditions and reaching into 
eA'ery avenue and recess of society, enlisting, 
not only the adventurers Avith nothing to lose, 
but also, making men avIio had secured perma- 
nent prospects and po.sition, throAV aside busi- 
ness and profession, and for the time being 
abandon home attachments and duties, at the 
alluring beck of the golden Avand. 

The first to start from Quiucy was a party of 
nineteen, made \\p mostly of well-known citi- 
zens, AA^io left on the l.st of February, going by 
the sea route and across the Panama isthmus, 
some tAvo months before the land emigration 
across the plains began. The nineteen Avant 
Coureurs Avere : John Wood, D. C. Wood, 
John Wood. Jr., Dr. S. W. Rogers, George Rog- 
ers. I. H. Miller, D. M. Jourdan, Aar-on Nash, 
W. B. Matlock, David Wood, John MeClintock, 
John Mikesell, (ieorge Burns. J. Dorman, J. J. 
Kendrick, 0. if. Sheldon. C. G. Amnion and 
Charles BroAvn. These familiar names ai"e 
given, as the.A' illustrate the A^aried character 
of these emigrators, some almost boys and led, 
or rather headed, as they were, by tAVO of the 
A'eteran pioneers of the place. John Wood, its 
oldest settler, and Rogers, its oldest physician, 
Avho had both groAvn gray in Quincy, Avould 
seem to have been among tlie last to thus .shake 
off the settled comforts of home, and assured 
position. Avon by so much of past toil, to, once 
more, in after-meridian age, venture upon a 
Avandering more wild than that of their early 
da.vs. But as an experienced "Sucker" dame 
pithil.A' exjiressed it, "They've tnk the fever 
like onto the boys and the old uns allers catch 
it the Avust. " 

A special interest attached to this party as 
being the earliest to depart; an interest height- 
ened by the rumor of their shipAvreck in the 
Mexican giilf, and their perilous adventures be- 
fore they reached the Golden Gate, and be- 
cause in their letters home, came their first per- 
sonal reports of experiences in California. All 
but three of this party retiirned Avithin the 
next tAVO years. 

By far the greater portion, nearly all, in- 
deed, of the " Calif ornians," as they were 
called, took the roiite across the plains. Their 
outfit and appearance Avas thus described by 
a local .journal at the time "being usually com- 
posed of a train of half a dozen or more wag- 
ons Avith three or four persons to a Avagon. 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



123 



S(>\i'r:il (if llir wngons wlti' drawn by four 
iiiuk's. thiiugli the majority of them were 
(hiiwii by three or four yoke of oxeu. All of 
them were fitted out in a sul)staiitial manner, 
with every neeessary required for the trip, aud 
take the men as a body, they are all of the go- 
ahead class, and Avill go thro' or 'break a 
Irace." as the saying is." 

C^nite a nnmber of those wlio left, with tliis 
complete equipment for the jom-ney, met with 
misfortune by the way. from wagons l)real\ing 
down, eattle dying, etc., and finally reached 
California, some on foot and some, a little bet- 
ter off, riding an ox or mule. How many -went 
from here and about here, cannot be told, but 
till' number was large. Ovei' "21)') were I'eported 
as liaving gone from Quincy. which is none too 
high a lignre. From the .Mill creek section a 
party of "26 formed a train; about 40 went 
from the Lima neighborhood aud from all sec- 
tions around there was the same proportionate 
nundjer. Among these, both from the city and 
county, were many people of i)rominence. 
Singly and in small parties the greater portion 
of them gradually returned, and but a few 
adoi)ted California as a permanent home. 

Of those publicly known here who remained 
were D. G. Whitney, who for many years had 
been the leading merchant of Quincy; Dr. Wm. 
II. Taylor, one of the earliest and most suc- 
cessful i)hysieians ; John L. Cochrane, a prom- 
inent teacher and former city clerk and sur- 
vey(jr, and others who found fortune or attrac- 
tion in the new countrj'^ which most of the ad- 
venturers failed to realize. The interest that 
attended the departure of these Californians 
did not cease with their going, but long con- 
tinued, general and intense, not unlike, though 
in a less degree, to that which attached to the 
movements of our soldiers during the Civil 
war, when the ptilse qiiickened with every tele- 
graph tick that told of news fi'om the front. 
Every item of information was now caught at 
with avidity, each personal piece of news from 
the west was presumed to have some word for 
all. and a Californian's private letter to family 
or friend was cinisidered to be and apt to be- 
come public property. 

The winter of 1848-9 was uncommonly snowy 
and cold : the 17th of February being recorded 
as the coldest day remendiered for many years. 
The river opened on the 4th of ilarch and 
closed again on the "J.'ith of December. 

The resumption of navigation in the spring 
in those days, before the advent of the "iron 
horse," was the commencement of trade and 
the event of the year, and coming as it did at 
this time on the 4th of I\rarch. the same day 
that the whig administration stepped into 
jiower. it afforded a good deal of pleasant ehaf- 



ling among the politicians over this coincident 
ilate of improvement and prosperity. It 
opened booming high, and the great flood con- 
tinued until late in the summer, giving a good 
boating stage of water until nearly the close 
of the year. 

Old steaniboatmen .state that never in their 
recollection had the Mississippi opened at such 
a high stage of water, and at the same time so 
full of running ice. Owing to the long con- 
tinued overflow of the lianks. the feri-yboat 
was compelled to make its landing across the 
river at LaGrange, and for many weeks was 
kept running night ami day to that point, con- 
veying the iiiuidreds of California teams that 
went from oi- passed through Quincy on their 
westward joui'iiey. 

The running out of the ice with such an un- 
usual "full banked" river was a peculiar and 
attractive sight, such as is not often seen, and 
brought with it two curious accidents. The 
steamer American Eagle, a Quincy boat, since 
it was owned and eonnnanded by Louis Cosson, 
an old-time resident, had. with two or three 
other boats, just arrived from St. Jjouis and lay 
at the landing with "steam down." One of 
the other boats ran up the river, struck into 
the great gorge of ice wiiich fettered the 
stream about four miles above, and having 
l)i-oken it, turned about and came back post 
haste, followed by the avenging ice, and 
rounded up into the bay for safety. The move- 
ment of the ice as it steadily swept along after 
the flying steamer, was witnessed by many, 
and was very imposing. It stretched in an un- 
broken sheet from shore to shore, advancing 
at a pace so gradual, still and slow, that it 
seemed as if a touch of the hand might check 
or turn it, and yet with momentiim that was 
irresistible. Creeping on and on. it caught the 
hu-kless Eagle at the landing and lifted the 
large steamer as though it were a toy. shoving 
it high iipon the bank w-ith its outer side 
broken in. Pushing on yet farther down, the 
relentless ice found a .small stern-wheel steam- 
lioat. the Champion, lying at the foot of 
Floyd's Island, jiist abovi> the mouth of the 
Fabius. The cai)tain. on seeing the ice on 
the way towards him. hail moored his vessel 
at the south jioint of the island with a cable 
on each bow so as to draw up the boat on 
whichever side of the islaiul the ice did not 
come. Unfoi'tnnate. it divided and came on 
both sides, crushing in the sides of his vessel 
aud sinking her to the boiler deck. 

A good story was told in this connection, of 
Capt. Louis Cosson, a jovial Frenchman. He 
was not on board of his boat at the time, hav- 
ing gone up the hill to see his old friends and 
have a good time generally. .Tnhn ]\rartin 



124 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



Holmes, clerk of the boat, was asked why they 
happened to be caught in such a fix all unpre- 
pared, with steam down, his answer was tliat 
the captain was up town and had taken all the 
steam that the boat was allowed to carry. 

These names of Cosson and Holmes suggest 
some pleasant memories of the personnel of 
our people in the past; of the individuality of 
those who composed the communitj'; and 
whose daily doings shaped and colored social 
and public action. Each man, however he may 
be placed, is more or less a factor and feature 
in the genei-al movement of all; contributing 
his portion of what furnishes the material of 
history, his seeming unimportant nothings ag- 
gregate "the sweeping surge of history." The 
life of the many individuals constitute the life 
of society itself. Tlie life of an individual is 
often attractive and interesting in retrospect, 
and woi'thy of a place in local annals. 

John Martin Holmes was one of the men who 
was, in his own way, an institution in Quincy 
from 1838 to 1850. He was a genius of high 
type : of infinite wit and humor, gifted with a 
rare poetic faculty. He was the soul of enjoy- 
ment in every social circle, and the brilliancies 
that he constantly uttered were the repeated 
quotations everywhere, as what "John Holmes 
said." He was of a name and stock of genius, 
"kith and kin" to the famed Senator John 
Holmes of Maine; to Oliver Wendell Holmes; 
to the South Carolina Holmes, and to all of 
the name, who carry, wherever it is borne, the 
same brilliant characteristics of refined intel- 
lect and unsurpassed humor. Their ancestry 
all hinges back to a gifted Scotch clergyman, 
one among the pilgrim fathers, and who is 
traditioued as liaving in his time startled the 
staid puritan consciences by liis unseemly wag- 
geries, as well as impressed them b.v his un- 
questioned piety. 

Volumes could not record all of the ready 
brilliancies of John Holmes, but we call up one 
"yarn," suggested by the allusions to the chol- 
era and to the accident of the Eagle, and, 
moreover, as it brings to mind the name of 
another patriarchal landmark, who now past 
the age of 90, still preserves the bright racy 
geniality of spirit and fun that has happily at- 
tached to his long consistent Christian career. 

Mr. Foote was in Cincinnati in the summer 
or fall of 1849. and he met John Holmes, who 
offered him a fi'ee trip to Quinc.v on the Eagle, 
which ilr. Foote declined. Two years after 
this we saw a meeting of Mr. Foote and I\Ir. 
Holmes here in Quincy. Mr. Foote saluted the 
other with, "I am glad to meet you. Have 
you got any of that 'Moral Medicine' left that 
you recommended to me at Cincinnati?" 
Holmes' an.swer was in keeping, and after they 



parted we drew from him what was meant by 
the "Moral Medicine." He said that he had 
ottered Mr. Foote a free pass from Cincinnati 
to Quincy on the Eagle, but that the parson 
said, "No, it's Saturday now, and I never 
travel on the Sabbath; I shall wait here until 
Monday." "Why," .said Holmes, "I can fix 
all that: we've got left over a lot of cholera 
medicine that we Tised in the spring when we 
were down about New Orleans. It's got every 
ingredient necessary. It's as stringent as the 
Saybrook platform and can put you to sleep 
better than a Congregational sermon. I can 
give you a dose of that to-night and put you 
and your conscience asleep iintil the middle of 
next week — clear past Sunday." ilr. Foote, 
however, declined, and it was this proposed 
prescription which he afterward referred to 
as the "moral medicine." 

The population of the place, so far as na- 
tionalities were represented, had by this time, 
in 1849, undergone a most marked change. 
Already tlie foreign born, by reason of the 
rapid immigration of the ten preceding years, 
had becoiue in number at least equal to those 
who were "to the manor born." Among the 
earlier settlers there were moi"e from Llassa- 
chusetts, Connecticut and Kentucky, than from 
any other states or sections ; the Kentuckians 
being more prominent, politically, as they were 
then and had been all over the state and the 
west, polities being the specialty of the Ken- 
tuckian, wlierein he is only surpassed b.y the 
Irishman. Prior to the town organization, in 
18.34, there were scarcely a score of citizens of 
foreign birth. About that period a few Ger- 
man families made the place their liome, and 
this immigration continued. Shortly after, 
witli tlie commencement of work upon the state 
railroads, there was a very large influx of 
Irish, who permanently remained. For some 
years the Irish element of population outnum- 
bered any of the other alien stock, but the 
steady flow since 1838, directly hither from 
the "faderland." had by this time made the 
(jrcrmans to outnumber those of all the other 
nationalities. Still, however, as before stated, 
notwitlistanding the predominance of the alien 
element in the mingled population, the condi- 
tions had as yet been but little changed or 
aft'eeted. The city did not at all, as it now 
does, present the picture of a population more 
tlian half foreign in appearance and an owner- 
ship of property and transaction of business in 
a much larger ratio represented by citizens of 
foreign birth or extraction. This fact is evi- 
dent not only from casual observation, but it 
is shown by the census statistics, which report 
Quinc.y as having in 1880, with a population of 
27,268, 20,706 native born, and nearly one- 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



125 



fourth. (),r)(ii!, t'(ii'eit;n Ixirii ; and alsi), in 1S7(), 
7.7:5:} t'oceis.;!! out of a total population of 
24.().")2. 

Such is the picture of C^uincy as now (1886) 
exists, its dominating influences of sentiment, 
wealth and numbers. It was not thus thirty- 
seven years a^o. although the popular ele- 
ments were relatively almost the same. The 
hoiiic-liorii or native jjortion of the people re- 
mained in rule; foremost in social, in busi- 
n(>ss re])resentation and in all else e.xcept i)oli- 
tics. That power had been taken away as 
early as 18-10, and it has since been held by the 
iKituralized citizens. This control was easily 
<j|itained for the reason that, until changed by 
tiie new constitution in 1S48, a residence in 
the state of six months sufficed to give to any 
one. whether native born, or naturalized, or 
neither, the full exercise right of the elective 
franchise. And we know that there is no 
jirivilege for which men grasp more eagerly 
and cling to more pertinaciously than this. 

At this time the people all knew each other: 
the interests of each were the interests of all; 
men mingled more together. Secluded during 
a large portion of the year, while frost fet- 
tered their communications with the outer 
world, hibei'nated. as it were, they were thrown 
upon their own resources for occupation and 
enjoynu'nt. The winters had to be passed 
through, and there were then no opera houses, 
dime museums, skating rinks, traveling shows; 
nt)thing from outside, for thej' couldn't get 
here, and hence society had to fall back on 
itself, and there was then brought out. of 
course, "all the fun there was." The social 
assemblings, parties, tea drinkings. church 
gatht>riugs. sleighrides, etc., passed away the 
time. Business was not as crowding and any- 
luxly could "shut up shop" for the day and go 
a-tishing or somewhere else. There had been, 
a few years before, a quite popular and suc- 
cessful Thespian Society, whose scuii-month- 
ly exhibits furnished entertainment to the 
good people. It comprised among its mem- 
bers nearly all the then young sparks of 
the place, nearly all now dead. Chicker- 
ing, Taylor, Sam Seger. IIotiTman, Grant, 
Dell ^lilnor and Pickett (the two last boys, 
who i)layed the female parts), the later. 
Pickett, afterward the famed ('(uidederate 
(ieneral. These were gay gatherings, at- 
tracting the attendance of all and vastly the 
more entertaining because of the intimate 
nuitual ac(|uaintancc between the audience and 
actors. Of the buskined stars who paraded on 
the stage of mimic life ajul forced eithci- a|)- 
plause or amusement from their friendly au- 
ditors, we believe, now lemaiu Fes Hunt, T. II. 
Brouyliaui and -1. T. Baker. Wouldn't it be 



a rare occasion if these veteran relics of Quin- 
cy's foi'mer dramatic genius would once more 
consent to tread the histrionic stage? 

Hut the chief and ]>eriodical attraction of the 
winters were the librai-y lectures. 

Brief mention may here again be made of 
these weekly lectures, since they present a 
picture of what was going on and being done 
during the days of winter seclusion forty years 
ago. ;\m\ also on account of the contribution 
they gave to the construction and support of 
what has now become a fixed and valued in- 
stitution of the city. They constituted almost 
the sole soui-ce of available revenue to the pub- 
lic library. The lectures were home-made, pre- 
pared by our own citizens, with aa occasional, 
tluiugh very rare, addition by some neighbor- 
ing clergyman or by one of the Illinois Col- 
lege professors. They were given gratis, and 
upon such .subjects as the writers chose. Some 
of them were of much merit, and if all were 
not so. yet all were attractive and well at- 
tended, and they fully served a pleasant, so- 
cial purpose, as also the financial need, which 
they were chiefly designed to meet. The ex- 
penses were next to nothing. The use of the 
court house was free, and only lights and fire 
had to be provided, so that the winter course 
usually netted two or three hundred dollars, 
al)out"the amount that in later years has been 
often ])aid for a single address from .some 
eminent professional lecturer. As a part of 
this reminiscence, herewith is given the lecture 
programme for the season of which we write, 
1848-9. the list of lecturers and their themes, 
which will convey an idea of the character of 
the mental food jjrovided and recall also some 
familiar names. These were: John C. Cox, 
subject. "Progress of Civilization Since the 
Christian Era"; A. Jonas. "The Fut\ire Exem- 
plified by the Past"; Rev. Rollin :Mears. "En- 
ulish Poets and Poetry in the I'Jth Century"; 
Dr. S. Willard. "Pneumatics"; Dr. R. Seeds, 
"Anatomy of the Eye"; T. Bron.son, "Early 
Settlement of the Mississippi Valley": Rev. J. 
J. Marks. "Earth as Made for :\ran"; John 
Tillsou. Jr., "The Saracens in Spain"; 0. H. 
Browning, "Our Duties and Obligations in 
Reference to American Slavery": Rev. H. 
Foote, "Yankee Character": Peter Lott, "The 
Upper Ten Thousand." .Ml of these, except 
Dr. Seeds, a skilled Scotch i)hysician. who 
s]ieut an occasional season here, were well- 
known residents. The prices of tickets were 
as follows: For a gentleman, $1.00; a gentle- 
man and lady, $1.50 : for a family of four per- 
sons. $2,00: of six persons, .$3.00; and from this 
was usually netted a few hundred dollars, 
which was devoted to the purchase of new 
liooks. and without which the library would 



126 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



have stood still. This is shown by its ninth 
annual report on the 3rd of December. There 
were then, eight years after its establishment, 
but 86 shares sold, 78 st<K'kholders, 1,574 vol- 
umes (of which 80 were circulating), valued at 
$2,123. Founded on donations and with a 
choice selection of books to begin with, it se- 
cured but little after-aid of this kind. Two 
hundred and fifty volumes were added during 
this year, almost all purchased with the net 
proceeds derived from the winter course of 
lectures. The slow, struggling growth of the 
Quiney Library has been tlie same as that of 
nearly every similar organization elsewhere. 
Of all the benetieent institutions which apj^eal 
to public spirit and generous philanthropy for 
their creation and maintenance the public li- 
brary is that which labors under the most dif- 
ficulty and has its claims last and least consid- 
ered. Churches, colleges, hospitals, schools of 
science and art, secure benefactions from lib- 
eral living patrons, whose names are duly 
chronicled, or great bequests from departed 
millionaires, many of whom hope thus to atone 
for a life of greed b.y giving away that which 
they can no longer keep, but among these 
many objects of philanthropy the libraiy prof- 
its the least. The reason for this is obvious. 
Interest, personal sympathies, conscience, cus- 
tom and many another influence operates to 
point the direction of donations and bequests. 
But the library is exeepti(uuil. The lover of 
books, if his wealth will warrant, prefers to 
perfect his own home collection, while the 
great mass of those who use and benefit by the 
public library has not usually the means to 
contribute towards its increase. The Quiney 
Library has now passed through a forty-five- 
year career of this natural indifference, and 
only now, within the past year, has it recog- 
nized and assured position, l)y the provision of 
a tax levy, devoted to its support. The insti- 
tution was projected at a meeting of some ten 
or a dozen persons on the 5th of March, 1841, 
a constitution Avas adopted on the 13th and 
organization perfected on the 20th of the same 
month. It was opened to subscribers on the 
18th of April and incorporated on the 4th of 
October of the same year. At its first annual 
meeting. December 6. 1841, there was reported 
to be 735 volumes on the .shelves, one-half of 
what it had now, eight and one-half years 
later. 

Another weekly newspaper, the People's 
Journal, made its appearance during the sum- 
mer of this year. It was published by Louis 
M. Booth, a veteran editor now residing in 
California, who had made several ventures of 
this kind, but never very successfully. The 
paper was short lived. It pi-ofessed to be "in- 



dependent in iDolitics" and. of course, followed 
the usual fate of such journals. To be "of in- 
depeiulent thought" is very apt to be consid- 
ered independent of thought, and very uncer- 
tain is the career of that newspaper which has 
not a political influence in caucuses and con- 
ventions and reaching its limbs and blossoms 
towards the public offices. 

I\Iuch interest existed during this season 
over the temperance cause, with nearly as 
much excitement as that which accompanied 
the AVashingtonian movement of several years 
before. This last had gradually sulisided, but 
was jiow successfully succeeded l)y the organ- 
ization of the Sons of Temperance. Weekly 
and largely attended meetings were held, and 
the accessions were numerous. The cause be- 
came eustomaiy and popular, so much so that 
most of the politicians joined for awhile. The 
. iniiversal apprehension of the coming cholera 
conduced to the advance of this movement. 
The year was marked also by an unusual de- 
gree of religious feeling and revival, stimu- 
lated probably by the same cause as above 
named. It is a notable fact that men are more 
nearly I'ipe for reformation, most ready to 
abandon the follies and temptations of the 
visible world when within the threatening 
shadows of the unseen. Either a tendency like 
this or to the other extreme of despairing, un- 
liridled recklessness has been the attendant 
moral feature of all the great plagues of the 
past. 

The season was singularly backward : as 
much so as had ever been known. As late as 
the middle and latter part of April there were 
severe frosts and the ground was frozen for 
several days. Rather odd it was. however, 
that this late rasp of unreasonable cold left 
slight injury upon vegetation in contrast with 
what was naturally ajiprehended. Sju-ing 
showed up slowly for several seasons. Plant- 
ing was late and the acreage of the county fell 
off from that of former years. Not only was 
this caused partially by the varying weather 
in the early portion of the year, but labor was 
less plenty and the work on many farms was 
curtailed in extent by the California emigra- 
tion. The withdrawal of so nmch of the agi-i- 
cultural force of the community could have no 
other residt than this, since the larger portion 
of these emigrants were the young farmei's of 
tlie country, and in some cases all the grown 
males of a family, father and sons alike, took 
the fever and went. L^p to tlie first of June 
4,350 California wagons had jiassed through 
St. Joseph, bound westward : and this was but 
t)ne of the half dozen crossing places of the 
Missouri river, and was but single file in the 
broad column of travel that fro7n the lakes to 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



127 



I he unit' was (■ciitt'i'iiii^ for the loii*;' iiuircli 
over tlu' westward plains. 

It may i)i'rlia|)s lie best piirti'ayed Imw tilings 
looked iliirin^;' this eventful yeiir, ehilletl in its 
natural pi'o^ress by the early and intermittent 
cold, dispirited l)y widespread sickness and 
death in luL-'h places, by quoting the himent of 
a veteran editor who blends his story of the 
season's slowness and the business depression, 
with his own personal mournings over the loss 
of all the i)leasure that was "going to waste." 
He was one of the best of the good men of 
Quincy (now gone, all honor to his memory), 
and withal a most devoted disciple of Izaak 
Walton, having done as much in his way to- 
ward the captni-e of the ''tinny tribe" as his 
son, 8. P. iiartlett. iu)w armed with a state 
conunissicni, is striving to do, to ''balance the 
scales" and to restock onr depleted streams 
and ponds, wliidi the fathei* so enthusiastically 
"went for." 

Thus moralizes the veteran Editor ;ind Pis- 
cator in his i)aper on the first of ilay: "The 
weather the past week has been anything but 
l)lea.sant and agreeable." The season, indeed, 
lias been very backward, cold, sickly, gloomy 
and without any fun. Last year at this time 
the trees were out in their full foliage, and we 
had participated in one or two fishing parties, 
l^ut this spring, the "Father of Waters" con- 
tinues to run out brim full and a little over, 
lie is on an awful high: seems to have swal- 
lowed up all the bars between Galena and St. 
liouis. Well! so be it. It can't be helped, but 
we do long to make a visit to one of our old 
fishing haunts, where, with a choice friend or 
two. we may while away the day in ".iust 
uat 'rally" coaxing the finny tribe. Talk of the 
enjoyments of the town ! what are they com- 
pared with the pleasure when sitting on a 
shady bank, with well-baited hook and line, 
and rod in hand, and not a soi;nd to disturb 
the stillness of the scene, save the "wood- 
jiecker tap"ning the hollow tree" or the chat- 
tering of the solitary king-fisher, to suddenly 
hear the quick sound of the cork as it plumps 
below the surface with a pop! as the minnow 
is seized by a voracious Pike, or Bass or Dog- 
fish (the sneaking rascal). We imagine we 
feel him as we give him play! Now here — now 
there — down into deeper water: and as the 
"iron enters deeper into his" jnw. he lashes 
the wafei' into foam with pain and vexation! 
Exhausted at last, he is drawn ashore ! 

"What say you, Pom & Co.. C. I\I. Pomeroy. 
John Tillson. Tieo. Rond and others. Dull show, 
isn't it? Hut we will assure our friends of 
the rotl and line. 

"Theiv is a good time coming, boys. 
A good time coming! 



"The lakes and ponds are now* full, and 
when old .Mississi])pi withdraws within his 
banks, we may expect the sport to commence, 
and that sickness will yet abate and business 
hopes be resfoi'ed." 

.Notwithstanding the unpromising aspects of 
the early part of this yeai-, with its withering 
sickness" and its late and light land tillage, the 
outcome was unex|)ectedly satisfactory. Pro- 
duction of all kinds, though not fairly up to 
the average increase of former years in quan- 
tity, was generally superior in quality, as is 
not uncommonly the result of a backward sea- 
son and a lessened e.xtent of farm cultivation. 
Fruit was abundant, the grain yield was good, 
and most of it wiis safely harvested, thus creat- 
ing a brisk business for the fall, sutficient to 
comiiensate fen- the dnllni'ss of the spring and 
summer months. 

The provision business of 1848-9 had been 
steady and active. More pork had been "put 
\ili" "than had been packed in the preceding 
winter, the rates running ((uite regularly from 
about ^'IJO to $3.00. Nearly an equal amotuit 
of provision was cured during the winter of 
1849-50, although the packing season opened 
very late and rather dull, the first figures for 
pork being $'2.25 and slowly raising afterward, 
but at no time e<|ual to the pi-ices of the pre- 
vious winter. 

Real estate I'ates \'ai'ied but little diu'ing this 
year, and the changes of property ownership 
were not very many. If was reserved for the 
succeeding year, 1850, to exhibit the full com- 
mencement of a rapid advance in land and 
values of every kind, which continued for sev- 
eral years, almost equaling the great specula- 
tive periods of 1835 and 1836. The price given 
for one well-known piece of property, at the 
time considered to be among the most valuable 
and salable lots in the city, will convej' an 
idea of how property rated at this time. Part 
of lot 1. block 18. at the southwest corner of 
Maine and Fourth streets. 28 by 100 feet, with 
a three-story brick storehouse on it. was sold 
for .$4,035 cash. At the same time the ground 
adjoining on the south. 40 feet front on Fourth 
street, and 99 feet in depth, was purchased for 
$040. $16 per foot. The varying values which 
attended the transfers of this piece of property 
are curious. 

At the original sale in 1831. the entire lot, 
99 feet on Maine, by 190 on Fourth, was 
bought of the county commissioners for $18.25. 
It \vas early improved by Captain Pease and 
Hums, w-ho successively owned it and erected 
on it what was about the best two-story frame 
dwelling house and store building in the place 
at the time, and it was half a dozen years later 
purchastnl and occupied by the Hranch Hank 



128 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



of the State of Illinois. When this institution 
failed, the property went to sale, and in 1843 
the north portion of it was purchased by A. T. 
Miller, nominally for about $10,000; but as 
this consideration was in the shape of the de- 
preciated state bank paper, which had no fixed 
value whatever, it would be difficult to deter- 
mine what it really sold for. The old bank 
building was then removed to the south end of 
the lot, and Mr. Miller, an enterprising mer- 
chant from Baltimore, the brother of George 
A. and E. G. Miller, built on the corner what 
was then the largest store-room in the city, a 
three-story brick, 100 feet deep, twenty-five 
feet front width on ilaine, being the build- 
ing which was occupied by the Herald office, 
when destroj'ed by fire in 1870. On the death 
of Mr. Miller, the propertv was purchased as 
above stated, by S. & W.'b. Thayer, for $4,- 
035. Five vears later, 1854, it was again sold 
for $15,000! 

The telegraph line, which had been com- 
pleted to Quiucy, by way of Beardstown and 
Springfield during the preceding year, had not 
been under the O'Rielly management, operat- 
ed to the satisfaction of all concernecl. Of 
the local subscriptions on which the Illinois 
line was established, about $10,000 had been 
raised in Quincy and vicinity. A meeting of 
the stockholders was called and held, at 
Peoria on the 10th of April, and then there, 
under the state law, a new company was form- 
ed and organized, into which was merged the 
O'Rielly stock and interest, and a dift'erent 
management was assumed. This was what has 
since been known as the Caton and Western 
telegraph company. Avliieh soon became ex- 
ceedingly prosperous, as its predecessor had 
not been. The Quincy interests at this meet- 
ing were represented by Newton Flagg and 
Lorenzo Bull, the latter of whom was made a 
director in the new company. On an assess- 
ment of 40 per cent being ordered, to relieve 
the company embarrassments and carry for- 
ward its business, a large portion of the 
Qiiincy stock was allowed to be forfeited. The 
few who paid up this assessment and retained 
their interests eventually found the investment 
very successful and remunerative. 

A quite exciting trial came off at the June 
term of the circuit court, Avhich aroused all 
the political and no small amount of the per- 
sonal feeling of the place. This has now passed 
away under the shade of nearly forty years, 
but it was a stirring event at the time. It was 
a slander suit brought by S. M. Bartlett, edi- 
tor of the Whig, against C. 'M. Woods, pub- 
lisher of the Herald. Woods and Austin 
Brooks were the Herald proprietors, and 
Brooks was the editor who had written the ar- 



ticles complained of. but the suit was brought 
against Woods as being equally liable and 
more personally responsible. It assumed a yet 
more sharp partisan character from the fact 
that most of the whig lawyers of the city were 
engaged for the plaintiff, and the democratic 
lawyers as generally took part in the defense; 
and also because the court was presided over 
by Judge Jlinshall, who had .just been elected 
to the bench, as the whig candidate, after a 
warm political contest at the first election 
when judges were chosen by a popular vote. 
His rulings, therefore, were often regarded on 
the one side as being the conclusion of party 
prejudice, and on the other sometimes thought 
to be timid from his fear that he might be sus- 
pected of too much leaning to the side of his 
own political faith. Judge IMinshall was an 
able, honest and impartial man. but very slow 
of thought and new on the bench, which made 
him sometimes appear wavering and undecid- 
ed. A quick-minded, prompt acting man like 
his predecessor. Judge Pur])le, would have 
been far better fitted to handle such a case 
at such a time, and escaped much of the im- 
just criticism that Judge ilinshall received. 
The arguments of the lawyers, on the one side 
especially, were almost like political speeches. 
The result at the close of a contest running 
through several days was a nominal verdict 
for the plaintiff. This trial, while unimpor- 
tant except as to local feeling, did, however, 
aft'ect and illu.sti'ate some things well. 

One result of this slander suit between Bart- 
lett and Brooks was an improvement in jour- 
nalism in its future assumption of a more 
courteous character, and more creditable and 
pi'oper tone than it had previously exhibited, 
which, with occasional exceptions, it has since 
maintained. Editoi-s discovered that the pub- 
lic regarded with no sympathy, but with posi- 
tive aversion their parades of private griefs 
and personal abuse, which had become to be 
almost the sum total of editorial topic. Criti- 
cism and denunciation of the opposite party 
soon di'ifted into personal vilification of each 
other, and the result was that in .such cases 
the character of each contestant was lowered 
not more by what was charged upon him by 
his opponent than by the display that he made 
of the worst side of himself. 

The public estimate finally placed upon 
what was said by these belligerent "knights 
of the quill," is shown in the story of the 
Quincy lawyer, who counseled against a suit 
for slander being instituted. "Why," said the 
angry would-be client, "he has abused me out- 
rageously; he has said " "Pshaw!" 

said the "lawyer quietly, "What of it? Noth- 
ing that such a fellow savs can slander any- 



PAST AXn PKESEXT OF ADA^fS COUXTV. 



129 



body. ,'iiiil iriiirc tliaii that, my good fellow, 
don't you know hflwccn mifselvos whatever 
anybody may say against you, no .jui-y wdiikl 
tliink of ponsideriiii:' slanderous .'"" 

Bartlett and Hi'ooks were innisiialjy siqicrior 
men in their vocation. Well vei-sed in local 
political and general public information, ready 
aiul trenchant writers, and eacii popular and 
trusted as a leadei- in his party. They repre- 
sented, in sentiment and in chai-actcr, the ex- 
treme views of the two parties cil' that day — 
the whig aiul democratic. 

The pi'o.ject of a railroad coming into Quincy 
from tlie east, which had foi- years i)ast been 
talked about by the busybodies, thought of by 
the thoughtful, and about which so many pub- 
lic meetings had been held, came at last into 
a shape of certain advancement. The reckless 
and luckless exjierinient of the state originat- 
ed in 1S3(), to cobweb itself all over with I'ail- 
roads, had resulted in only one thing observ- 
able, which was a huge debt that retiuired fifty 
after years of exceptional taxation to pay, and 
nothing beside, except scattered over the state 
a great deal of incomplete and worthless work. 
These and the owiuM'ship of road beds and 
franchises was all the state and ]iublic had to 
show for the expenditures. The legislature 
wisely offered all these (except the debt) for 
sale. On the 6th of August, at Springfield, 
sale was made by the state to James W. Single- 
ton. Samuel TToimes. C. A. Warren, J. M. Pit- 
man. II. S. C'ooley and I. N. IVforris. of all that 
part of the Xoi'thern Cross railroad lying be- 
tween the Illinois and ^lississippi rivers, ter- 
minating at Quincy. for $100,000 in state se- 
curities, which were then at so low a depre- 
ciation that the cash consideration of the sale 
was really but about .^f^-OOO. This sale cai-- 
i-ied with it the owucrshi]) of the roadbed, etc.. 
and all the franchise rights contained in the 
original charter. ]Much heavy and expensive 
grading had been done by the state on several 
sections of the line, some of which was sub- 
sequently utilized, but in building the present 
road, a large ])ortiiiu of the old survey was 
abandoiu^d. esiiecially that ]iart which lies in 
.\dams CoTinty. 

It was the original design of the parties 
who had purchased this railroad from the 
state to obtain local s)discriptions from Quincy. 
and from Brown and Adams counties, and thus 
strengthened, to procure moneyed means fi-om 
the east to carry on its construction. In fur- 
therance of this plan, a meeting of citizens was 
called, and held at Quincy, on the 13th of Oc- 
tober, and after some discussion which revealed 
the fact that there existed some dissatisfac- 
tion with the project in the shape in which it 
then stood, a committee was appointed to pre- 



sent the niattiM' t(i "'castiTn caiiitalists." but 
fi'oiM this nothing resulted. 

On the 'I'ld of October a comi)any was form- 
all\- organized, uiulei- the provisions of an act 
pas.scd Feb. loth, 1S4!). with I. X. Morris, as 
pi'csidciit ; Samu(>l Holmes, seci'etai'v. and J. 
M. Pitman, treasurer. Work was innnediate- 
ly ordered, a competent engineer, Wm. T. 
Whipple, and a corps of assistants, were en- 
gaged, and surveys commenced, resulting in 
the cai'ly establishment of lines varying not 
vei'y unich from the original route. This or- 
ganization did not. however, for some rea- 
son, meet the general sanction, and early in 
1850. it was changed, and a year later changed 
again. A meeting, not largely attended, on 
the .Sdtli 1)1' October, asked the county to vote 
a subscription of $100,000. Xothing came of 
this, however-. This brief sketch is the history 
of the beginning of the connection of this city 
with railroads, for which enter]ii-ises it has fur- 
nished nearly a million of dollars. The suc- 
cessive steps in 1850 and in 1851. when the 
city for $20,000 purchased the road, became 
its chief owner and subscribed $100,000. the 
first installment of the great debt above allud- 
ed to. will be stated in their pi-oper order. 

There were several radical changes made 
during this year, in the system of county gov- 
ernment — changes prescribed by the new state 
constit\ition. and by the legislature which fol- 
lowed its adoption, all of which affected the 
sid^sequent current of Quincy history. From 
1825 to 1S.S4. Quincy, though the county seat, 
was not more than any other hamlet or set- 
tlement (pronounced in ancient sucker vernac- 
ular with the heaviest kind of emphasis on 
the final .syllable) and its local government, if 
it had any. was like that for the rest of the 
county, vested in the three commissioners, 
who exercised supervision and sway over all 
the corporate and internal interest of the 
county. The immediate local jurisdiction of 
Qnincy. passed in 1834. when the town was in- 
corporated, under the control of the board of 
town trustees: and six years later, in 1840. 
with the foimation of the city, the municipal 
authority was vested in the city council, mak- 
ing the city somewhat peculiarly and almost 
entirely independent of the county anthorities, 
and subsequent action made it more so. The 
new state constitution of 1847-48 abolished the 
cinuity commissioners' court, and also the 
office of pi-ol)ate judge, providing in lieu there- 
of, for a connty court, composed of one chief 
and two associate judges, clothed with full 
primary jurisdiction in all matters of probate, 
and "such other duties as the General Assem- 
bly may prescribe." connected with the ad- 
ministration of the countv affairs. Here was 



130 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



a iiuich-improved advance from the old eouuty 
commissioners' court system, and the chief 
and best features of which have been retained 
and engrafted into the later and present con- 
stitution of 1S72. Following \ipon this con- 
stitutional change, came the adoption of the 
township system, authorized by law and now 
prevailing in most of the counties of the state. 
To Quincy and Adams county the action un- 
fortunately taken at this time about the 
changes in the form of county government, 
both in the reconstruction of the eouuty court 
and in the adoption of the township system, 
induced a Pandora's box of trouble, which a 
generation's patiencehashardlj^yet healed. The 
constitution of 1847 had conferred a ble.ssed 
local benefit in its arbitrary reunion of Adams 
county, and thus treading out the dispute 
over a division of the county, but sore sectional 
feeling showed itself in a strife over the elec- 
tions above referred to. The old county court 
had so much been the nursery where coimty 
quarrels were nxirtured that to some extent 
these distrusts and estrangements entered into 
the choice of the new court, each party appre- 
hensive of what might be the action of the 
new tribunal, vested with so much more pow- 
er, and on the township question almost a 
clear issue was made between the county and 
the city. 

The township system for l(ic<d home govern- 
ment originated in New England, and gradual- 
1}' became adopted in some of the other north- 
ern states. The county court system was the 
plan universally in use in the southern states, 
and Illinois, which was originally a county of 
Virginia, had engrafted it in its state constitu- 
tion of 1818. The former system is much the 
most advantageous and satisfactory, as it is 
moi'e in harmony with the democratic principle 
of our institutions. It brings the machinery of 
local government nearer to the knowledge and 
control of the voter, making each town, as it 
were a little republic, the unit factor in the 
general government, through which local in- 
terests can be more etfectively promoted, and 
lietter guarded. Wherever it has been adopt- 
ed, it has never been departed from and is 
gradually becoming the local system for the 
country. 

It was optionally incorporated into oui- state 
constitution of 1848. and in April, 1849, a law 
was passed providing a plan and authorizing 
the counties to vote thereon. About half of 
the counties of the state, genei'ally in the north- 
ern part, embraced the new plan, and since 
then a large number of others have done so, 
and in no case has a county gone back to the 
old system. Adams county was among the 
earliest to vote for township organization, but 



it M'as a long time before it was completely es- 
tablished, and its history in connection with 
the county and Quincy is peculiar. In com- 
pliance with the law above-named, the Adams 
county commissioners, rather unwillingly, it 
was said, at their September session, passed an 
order to "the .iudges of election in the several 
precincts in said county, to open polls for vot- 
ing for or against Township Organization, as 
provided by the statute of Illinois, in force, 
April 16, A. D. 1849." The vote thus provid- 
ed for was taken at the November election, 
and resulted in favor of township organiza- 
tion by the decisive ma.jority of 1.301, in a 
vote of over "J.'JOO. the significant fact being, 
that while every precinct in the county gave 
a majority for the measure, Quincy only, voted 
in opposition, more than half of all the mi- 
nority votes thrown against it being east in 
the city. 

As authorized by the above mentioned vote, 
the commissioners, on the 6th of December, ap- 
pointed a committee to divide the county into 
townships. This committee reported in the 
following .March. 1850. the formation of twen- 
ty towns, with lioundaries defined and names 
recommended, Quincy being one of them, hav- 
ing its limits the same as those fixed by the 
city charter. This report was adopted with 
the excepti(jn that in several instances, the 
names proposed by the committee were 
changed by the court at the request of the peo- 
ple of the township. Subsequently two addi- 
tional towns, IMendon and McKee. were estab- 
lished, making the permanent sub-division of 
the county to consist, as it does at present, of 
twenty-two towns, inclusive of Quincy. The 
city, however, consistently with its vote of op- 
position, and to its own disadvantage, took no 
steps toward town organization, held no elec- 
tion for officers in April, and steadily refused 
to claim or have any representation in the Su- 
pervisors Board for twenty-five years, until 
1874. when it came in with its representation 
of one Supervisor and Assistant Supervisors, 
to which by its population, it was entitled. It 
was a singular fact that during all this period, 
at any time a dozen citizens of Quincy could 
under the law, have compelled it to organize, 
or the Board could, on this default of the city, 
have appointed siipervisors for it ; but the 
wish of the city to keep out. was met by a 
Avillingness on the part of the county that it 
should stay out. Dignified diplomatic rela- 
tions were maintained, however, between the 
two powers, and by formal treaty and agree- 
ment. Quincy, in consideration of its waiver of 
the right and responsibility of representation, 
aninially paid in lieu thereof a stipulated sum 
towards the support of county expenses: at 



PAST AND T'RESENT OF ADAMS COrXTY. 



131 



first $300 per annuiii. at'tcrw-jirds increased to 
$800, and filially $;i,000. 

At the regular election in Xovenilier. wliieii 
was for eounty officers only, ami also for the 
vote on the townshiji iiuestion. i)ai'ty nomina- 
tions were made and party lines were drawn. 
The i)olitical status of the count.v was uncer- 
tain. At the presidential election in tiie pre- 
ceding; year. Cass, democrat, carried the coun- 
ty over Ta.vlor, whiu:, by 208 ma.jorit.v, lint 
there was also a Van Bui'en. frcesoil, vote of 
261. It was the first election for officials of the 
new coni't. a .judge and two assistant .justices. 
The sensitive sectional distrusts before men- 
tioned, and also some personal issues entered 
into the election and broke the unity of i)arty 
action. The democrats elected iheir candi- 
date for count.v .judge, Philo A. (ioodwin, by 
a large ma.jority. the two associates and the 
school conuiiissioner. The Whigs elected J. C. 
Bernard, county clerk, antl also the count.v 
treasurer. 

The chief and almost the only special jio- 
litical excitement of this year was confined to 
the democratic part.v. 

It was over the election to the Tnited States 
Senate, of a successor to Sidne.v lireese. whose 
tei-m expired on the 4th of March. His oppo- 
nent foi' the caucus nomination was James 
Shields, who died recentl.v, after having been 
the recipient of more varied distinctions than 
almost an.v other man of his da.v. The jiosition 
which Adams county, with its large and able 
delegation to the (Jeneral Assembl.v. might as- 
sume was imiiortant and indeed, largely deter- 
mined the result. Breese was the more learn- 
ed, the abler and older public man. having a 
political record of prominence as old as the 
state history, but he was not possessed of pop- 
ular manners or disposition and he had also 
fallen out with his .pinior colleague in the Sen- 
ate, Douglas, then the rising man of the 
state, and alread.v almost, as he afterward was, 
omnipotent in Illinois. Shields was a genial, 
magnetic man, of fair talent, and he lu'esented 
himself to the people with the fresh pi'estige of 
Jlexican war wounds and honors. 

The two aspirants visited all sections of the 
state and Qnincy with the rest. Breese here 
obtained an instruction in his favor to the leg- 
islative delegation from this countv, but after 
the legislature had convened, a democratic pub- 
lic meeting, held at the ccnu't house. i)assed re- 
verse resoluti(His which instructed for Shields. 
The latter was elected, but on taking his seat 
at AVashington was confronted with the charge 
that he had not been nine years a citizen of 
the Fnited States, which he really lacked by 
several months. This fact Avas well known at 
the time of his electimi. but it did not prevent 



his being chosen, although his rejection was a 
(•ertaiii c<)nse(|uence. On failing to maintain 
his senatorial seat he appealed to the legisla- 
ture at its sjiecial session in October, and was 
easily re-elected. Time had now cured his dis- 
ability. It is a singuliir fact that a stnuig fac- 
tor among the nian.v intiuences which conduced 
to Shields' success at this time, was his well- 
known opi)osition to slavery extension (a ques- 
tion that had now begun to permeate all the 
politics of the land) and that it was his faith- 
ful adherence to his friend Douglas in 1854 on 
the passage of the .\el)i-aska bill (reluctantly 
given. f(n- he disapproved its policy I. that ]ire- 
vented his renominati<in niid threw him out of 
the line of political proinoliiui in Illinois. 

Among the exciting local events of the time 
was the murder of ^Nla.jor Prentiss, who was 
found dead in the street near the court house 
on Christmas eve, evidently killed, lie was a 
well-known citizen, who had mingled much in 
local politics, and his violent death created a 
great sensation, ilurders were infrequent in 
those days, and whenever they did occur, the 
murderers rarel.v escaped detection and pun- 
ishment, a marked cctntrast with the record of 
crime in latei- years. In this case. West, who 
was charged with the offence, was, in the fol- 
lowing year, tried and sentenced to a three- 
.vear term of service in the penitentiary. 

With its period of wilting sickness and de- 
pression : the dejilefion from emigration ; the 
doulitful early prospects of crops and dull sea- 
sons of business, latterly revived : the radical 
changes in public relations, this was one of the 
most eventful years of Quincy history : the 
more also it may so be considered because with 
the latter pai't of the year began a "boom" of 
prosperity: an advance in I'eal estate values, in 
]iopulation. in business activity, which, rapidl.v 
developing in the following .vear. continued un- 
abated for the next ten vears. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

1850. 

CALIFORNIA EMIGR.^TION. CHOLERA. FIRST 
SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL SOCIETY. CENSUS 
TAKEN. POPULATION OF COUNTY AND CITY 
26,50S. PRIVATE B.^NKI.N'O BEGU.V TEMPER- 
ANCE agit.JlTION. fis^'.vl st.\te.ment of 

CITY. PERIOD OF PROSPERITY. LOSSES BY 
FIRE. TWO GERMAN NEWSPAPERS. FALL 
ELECTIONS. STEADY GROWTH. PROPERTY 
VALUATIONS. 

The ice blockade of the winter of 1840-50 was 
of brief continuance. The river closed in 1849, 
on Christmas day. and opened on January 29th, 



132 



PAST AND PKESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



giving good average navigation throughout the 
year, and not closing at all during the winter 
of 1850-51. The dreaded cholera which had so 
fearfully scourged the city in the previous 
year, returned, hut its ravages were compara- 
tively light. About fifty was the estimate of 
the total number of deaths. The exodus to 
California continued, notwithstanding that the 
retui'ning pilgrims of the year before brought 
but little to show for their venture, and gener- 
ally gave dissuasive advice to those who were 
smitten with the gold fever; but the report of 
a single case of success in the mines, no matter 
how doubtful its credit, would outweigh all 
else, and the stream of treasiire-seeking adven- 
turers still unbrokenly floM^ed westward. 

It was an observable and somewhat curious 
fact that of the hiuidreds who went from this 
section to California in 1S19 and 1850. many 
more of the second-year emigrants made there 
their permanent home than of those who were 
of the year preceding, and that among the 
number who have thus remained, the larger 
proportion came from the emigration of the 
county outside of the cit.v. The second emi- 
gration was made up of a more stable element, 
and men moved aAvay from their f(n'mer honu^s 
with nu)re fixed intentions and better arrange- 
ments, and a great many took along their fami- 
lies. 

The public excitement was still at the full 
and the interest as rose-colored as ever, with 
that novelty and hope Avhich even at this long 
later day attaches to every idea of California. 
Time had not at all tamed the early eagerness 
of adventure, and all reports from the few who 
had as yet returned were accepted just as the 
hearer wished. In one respect the interest had 
changed. Danger was no longer dreaded as 
attendant on the trip across the desolate, track- 
less, savage-haunted plains, or over the long 
tortuous ocean route, but an equal apprehen- 
sion arose from the attested rumors that chol- 
era had waylaid and was doing fell ravage 
among the traveling trains. 

Sickness and pestilence are the saddest of 
inflictions at home, but when the.v reach after 
the far-off wanderer, away from care and sym- 
pathy and resources, they bring tenfold ter- 
rors, magnified by wild rumor and fancy. The 
cholera was fearfully fatal in places on the 
plains, though the stories of its progress were 
naturally much exaggerated. A special anx- 
iety was felt in Quincy. for the reason that 
with the earliest reports that the disease had 
broken out among the emigrants, came also the 
news of the death of Charles Steinagel, one of 
the most active and prominent German citizens 
of this place. Quite a number of Quincy and 
Adams count.v peo])le died (if this disease, but 



the conditions of the climate, the pure air and 
the altitude of the countrj' were repellants to 
the i)estilenee, which otherwise might have 
reaped a fearful harvest. 

Among the now fixed institutions of the 
place, the Adams County iledical Society, as 
at present constituted, dates its origin in this 
.vear. Sevei-al attempts had been made by the 
resident physicians during the preceding ten or 
twelve years to form a local medical associa- 
tion, but the efforts were short-lived, and this 
was the only successful (U'ganization. It com- 
menceil with a membership oi ten. Drs. Hal- 
st(in, S. W. Rogers, Roeschlaub, Hollowbush, 
Wilson, Watson, Shepherd, Leach, Chapman 
and Elliott; all familiar names for many years 
in the past. Of these, all but thi'ee (Chapman, 
Ellidtt and Shepherd) were from the city, and 
now, thii'ty-six years after its fornuttion, two 
only of the original members of the society 
survive. Dr. L. T. Wilson, of Quinc.v. and Dr. 
L. Watson, of Ellis, Kan. 

The seventh national census was taken this 
year by E. H. Buckley and W. R, Lockwood, 
Deputy Thiited States [Marshals, appointed for 
fliat purpose. Prior to this time, as pivscribed 
by the constitittion of 1818. a state census had 
lieen taken every ten years, intermediate to 
the time of the national census, for the pur- 
pose of apportioning the representation in the 
state legislature, which is established every 
five years; the framers of this first constitution, 
rightly foreseeing that with the rapidly in- 
creasing population of the state, this repre- 
sentation would soon become uneqiml and un- 
certain if dependent for its accuracy on the 
decennial federal census. This state census 
was taken in 1825-35 and -15, but the provi- 
sion therefor, under the economic influences of 
the time, was omitted in the state constitution 
of 1847, and also, unfortunately, left out of the 
constitution of 187.'^, so that every alternate 
readjustment of representation in the state leg- 
islature is now based largely on guess work. 

The returns of this census, which was quickly 
and correctly taken, gave a population of 
l(j,')01 to Quincy. and to the entire county, the 
city included. 25.508. This placed Adams 
county after Cook and Quincy next to Chicago 
on the I'ecord as the most populous eoiuity and 
city in the state, a relative position which they 
maintained during the twenty succeeding 
years. 

The private liaid<ing lousiness of Quinc.v be- 
gan with this year. After the suspension of 
the State Bank of Illinois, with its tiranch in 
Quinc.y, in 184:2. there was for some years much 
difficulty in conveniently obtaining eastern ex- 
change. This was an especial embarrassment 
to the mei-cantile business of the iilace. At 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



133 



r-ertain seasons of tlie year, duriiii;' tax-payiiijj: 
time, some relief was afforded by the la ml 
aireiii-ies who at that period were drawiiii;- upon 
their easter-ii clients, and it was not an inlfe- 
ipieiit enstoni for the mei'chants to senil to St. 
J>ouis, or even to the branch bank of the State 
of Missouri at Palmyra and there i)nrehase 
drafts by which to remit aiul make tiieir pe- 
i-i(idir,il payments to their eastern ci'editoi's. 
For a year or two before this time. .Mr. Xewton 
l''lai;^' iiad been eng-ajied in sellioii' exclunme in 
M ipiii't way, and his bnsiness iirew so greatly 
that in the fall of 1850. in partnership with 
Charles A. Savage, with whom afterward I. 0. 
Woodnift' was associated, the bnidving house of 
h'lagg & Savage was opencil (in the south side 
of Maine street, between l''ourth and Fifth. 
aft(>rwards removed to the corner of JIaine and 
l-'iftli. where for years was transacted a large 
antl lucrative business. The house suspended 
in 1857, and resumed a few mouths later, but 
after a hard strugsrle of one or two years, 
finally closetl in IStjP. It was the first perma- 
nently established private bank of the place. 
The earliest in date, however, was that of J. II. 
Smith and A. C. ilarsh, Avho opened, on the 5th 
(if March, near the corner of ilaine and Fourth, 
iindci- the Quiney House, the "Farmers' and 
Mei'chants' Exchange Company." It was not 
strong, however, and its existence was brief. 

The temperance sentiment, which at this time 
was all pervading throughout the counti'y. took 
l)ossession of (|)iiincy with a force unkiu)wn be- 
fore or since. .Many and large petitions were 
[iresented to the council protesting against the 
liipior traffic, and the granting of licenses 
th(>refor. In deference to these an election to 
cibtain the wishes of the iieojile was ordered 
to be held on the 9th of ]\Iarch. There was a 
singular accord of feeling expressed on this 
matter. The people, the politicians and the 
l>ress worked all one way. The Whig, Herald 
and .lournal vied with each other as to which 
should be foremost and most radical in the 
cause, and the result was that out of a poll of 
578 (being abmit two-thirds of the entire vote 
iif the city) all but 45 votes were given against 
license, making a temperance ma.iority of 488. 
The council immediately thereupon assembled 
and passed an ordinance forbidding the retail 
sale (if liquor and also revoking the licenses 
ali-eady issued. 

The ])roprietr)rs of the Xdrthei'ii Cross Kail- 
road held a meeting on the 15th of F'ebruary. 
and. after subscribing il^lO.OOO additional .stock, 
reorganized the conipanv bv the election of 
J. W. Singleton. I. X. Morris. X. Bushnell, X. 
Flagg and J. ^1. Pitman as directors, with I. X. 
Morris as president ; S. Holmes, secretary, and 
Ebenezer ^loore. treasurer. The board gave 



notice that (ui the Isl of Ajjril the railroad com- 
pany would take posse.ssion and claim the ex- 
clusive use of that portion of the roadbed lying 
within the city. .\ committee was appointed 
by the council to confer with the railroad com- 
pany u])on the matter. This jjropei'ty referred 
to was that part of Broadway west of Twelfth 
street extending to the river, which had been 
relini(uished by the state to the city prior to 
the purchase of the remainder of the road by 
the lailroiil compauN'. .\s the city's title was 
secure anil the railroad company had really 
no use for the property claimed, action on the 
sub.iect went no further. Subscription books 
to the stock of the road were opened on the 
■ind of April to rcmani open for thirty days. 
.\o additional stock was taken. Prior to this 
period, about the first of ^larch. the president 
of the road asked from the city a subscription 
of .^150.000. It was not I'esponded to. The 
time had not yet come. The engineers, ilessrs. 
Whittle and Shipman. published two exhaust- 
ive and excellent re])orts of their survey, etc., 
in which thev estimated the value of the road 
as i)urchase.i at ^lliO.OOO. Farther than the 
labor of the engineers in their survey, no work 
of any consequence was done upon the road 
duj-ing this year. 

The fiscal statement of the city for the year 
ending April 1. 1850. was a well-prepared and 
favorable showing. The amount of bonded in- 
debtedness was reported as ^:5:].;573.43. of 
which $20,000 had been created by the refund- 
ing operations of the past year, when by the 
issue of this amount of bonds, which realized, 
when placed on the market, !);18,400, all the 
then matured bond obligations of the city were 
taken up and a balance of about .i^l.SOO in cash, 
was left in the city treasury for "pocket 
money." It was a judicious, well-managed 
operation. All of the bonded debt mentioned 
above would mature consecutively during the 
next ten years. The outstanding vouchers in 
circulation amounted to .i<l. 994.26. about the 
same as at the end of the last ti.scal year, but 
there was at this time cash on hand to meet 
the.se liabilities. The total expenditures of the 
city for the pa.st twelve months had been 
greater than during any preceding year, but 
this was unavoidable, as, in addition to the 
natural increase of expense with growth, the 
year 1849 had made many and uinisual de- 
mands upon the public purse. The prevalent 
pestilence had caused the nuisance, poor house. 
]iauper and other accounts to swell to a large 
figure, and there had been completed and paid 
for. during this year, one of the costliest im- 
provements ever made by the city. This Avas 
the grading of Sixth street from Elaine to Jer- 
sev. which involved the filling of a ravine twen- 



134 



PAST xVXD PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



ty feet deep niiiniiig along- the entire length 
of the block. 

At the annual city election in April there 
was no party contest. The democratic ticket, 
headed by Mr. Holmes, was successful over an 
independent ticket by a decisive majority; 
Holmes receiving 569 votes against 394 for K. 
S. Beuneson, the independent nominee for 
mayor. At the same time. Amos Green and 
H. L. Simmons, democrats, were elected alder- 
men in the First and Second wards, John Wood 
only, in the Third ward, being chosen on the 
independent ticket. The city council was de- 
cidedly democratic, and the organization and 
action for the year was radically the same. 
There had been an election held all over the 
county on the 2nd of April for town officers 
under the township law, now for the fii'st time 
going into operation, but the city, though de- 
clared as one of the towns, decided not to hold 
an election. 

With the satisfactory condition of the city 
finances and its credit placed in a better shape 
than at any time before, there came now an 
active advance in business, which increasingly 
continued for the next half a dozen years, 
slowing down after that time until in 1861 it 
was revived by the war times, when there was 
plenty of money and so many interests and al- 
most everybody, for a time, lived off the gov- 
ernment. This revival of business life and 
industry was all over the land as well as here. 
By some it was attributed to the stimulus of the 
California gold coming into circidation ; by 
one-half of the politicians it was credited to the 
national administration lieing whig, and this 
was as zealously denied by the other half. 
Again, and with some degree of truth, so far as 
it concerned Illinois, it was claimed that the 
new constitution, by its having redeemed the 
bankrupt credit of the state, had encouraged 
and invited immigration. It was really, how- 
ever, besides the effect of the above influences, 
the natural periodical return of prosperity, aiid 
confidence that regularly appears after a pe- 
riod of depression. 

In Quincy the effects were early and evident. 
It was a year of bu.stle and improvement. Two 
daily packet lines of steamers were running to 
St. Louis in addition to the Galena and St. 
Paul boats, two or three of which passed every 
day. Property rapidly advanced in value. For 
instance, the two large lots in Nevins' addition 
of the southeast corner of Maine and Twelfth 
streets, where now stands the Webster school 
house, and which had been oft'ered for sale in 
the year before at $500. now were bought for 
school purposes by the city for $2,000, and to- 
day probably the same property without the 



buildings thereon may be easily called worth 
ness structiues were erected. The ^IcFadon's, 
Rogers", ^lauzey's buildings on the north side 
over .$50,000. Many superior substantial busi- 
of the square ; Kendall 's, .since called the City 
Hall, at the corner of ^Maine and Sixth: Luce's 
biiildings, on Fourth, south of Maine, where for 
a long time the post office was located, and a 
number of other permanent and costly edifices 
were erected, giving better appearance to the 
city. Some handsome private residences were 
constructed. This was a feature in Quincy 's 
appearance which was sadly neglected before. 
Now it equals any other city of its class in the 
state, in the number, variety and elegance of its 
private residences. Then, and Tip to this pe- 
riod, there was next to nothing to show of at- 
tractiveness in this line, nothing but what 
would be second or third class today. The old 
Wood, Keyes and Yoxmg mansions and two or 
three others were about all. The Leavitt house, 
l)ei'liaps the most pretentious and expensive 
{)rivate residence of its time, was built this 
yeai". It stood on the corner of Vermont and 
pjighth, was afterward purchased by General 
Singleton, and now is built over and forms a 
part of the St. Mary's School. 

With the general business stimulation, man- 
ufacturing enterprise which is always the surest 
indication of local prosperity, became active. A 
larger number of factories of a valuable and 
durable kind were e.stablislied than had ever 
been before. Among them Avere the Phoenix 
works, by the energetic and enterprising Com- 
stoek Bros., in the fall of the year, and about 
the same time the cotton factory of Dimock & 
Gove, which did a successful business for some 
years; also the planing mill of Chase & Seripps, 
the finst large concern of the kind in the city 
which had been working in a small way before, 
now extended its business, and a number of 
other factories beneficial to the place and which 
have contiiuuHl successfully, originated with 
this year. 

There were severe losses by fire, of which 
there was an unusual number. In January the 
large biick steam flouring mill and di-^tiilery, 
known as the "Casey ]Mill," situated near the 
Bay, about where the freight depot now stands, 
was entirely consumed. It was the most ex- 
tensive concern of the kind in the city, being a 
four-story structure, with surrounding build- 
ings, originallv erected by jMessrs. Miller, at a 
cost of between $20,000 and $25,000. The prop- 
erty afterwards passed into the hands of Capt. 
Casey and other parties, who expended on it 
some $15,000 more. It was a serious loss to 
the business of the place. Later than this, also 
on the 30th of ^March, Kimball's mill, at the foot 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



135 



of Delaware streeet, weut the way of all mills. 
This also was a large establishineut, and an old 
landmark. It was the oldest steam mill in the 
city, ereeted in 1831. althouuh much enlarged 
since. 

The long-ttdked l-'cmale Sciiiiiiary. for which 
there had been yearuinL;- and movement for 
many niontiis past, opened finally in October, 
in the buildings on the south side of Maine, 
near Sixth, which had for some years past been 
used by ^liss Doty for the same purposes. It 
began nndei- the supervision of iliss Catherine 
Deecher and a corps of teachers, with nearly 
one hundred pupils and fine prospects of suc- 
cess, which, however, were doomed to disap- 
jiointment. as it lived hardly a year, siidving 
with itself a good deal of hope and more or 
less money beside. 

Among the public events of the year were 
the observances on the death of (jeueral Taylor, 
the second President of the United States, Avho 
had dieil in office. A public meeting was 
called by the JFayor and pro])er preparations 
miide, and on the 27th of July, with formal 
accomjianying eei'emonies, an impressive ad- 
dress was delivered at the ^larket House by 
.Judge Peter Lott. Judge Lott was the most 
felicitous orator for such occasions in the city, 
and had performed a similar duty nine years 
before, on the occasion of the death of Presi- 
dent Harrison. Several persons who had oc- 
(•ui)ied places of moi-e or less prominence in 
|)ast (^uincy history, passed away from life dur- 
ing this year. Judge Jesse B. Thomas, one of 
the oldest and ablest legal men of the state, 
who had presided over this judicial circuit, suc- 
ceeding Judge Douglas, in 1843. and residing 
for s(Uiie years in Quincy. died at Chicago on 
the 17th of February. Governor Ford, a citizen 
of Quiney and practicing lawyer as early as 
1833, afterward Supreme Judge and Governor 
of the state, died at Peoria during the month of 
November. A more personal as well as general 
feeling of regret was occasioned by the death 
of H. S. Cooley. who died at New Orleans on 
the '21st of ]\Iarch, of consumption, and was 
buried here by the ifasons with a good deal of 
public display. I\Ir. Cooley came to Quincy 
from ^Maine. in IB-IQ, and at once became con- 
spicuous. He was made Quartermaster General 
of the state in 1843. apjiointed Secretary of 
State in 184fi. elected to the same office in 1848. 
and held it until his death. He was a man of 
fair talent, active and ambitious and, had his 
life been longer, would probably have contin- 
ued to rise in political distinction. 

The newspajier business exhibited the same 
advanced energy and enterprise that marked 
other callings, but it co\dd not be fairly said 



to be as profitable and stable. There were two 
weekly (iennan papers issued, both moderately 
democratic in politics. One, the Illinois Courier, 
pnl)lislied by Jjinz and Kichter, came out in 
.\|iiil and continued for several years. The 
(ithcr, the Wochenblatt, had but a short life, 
dying out with the sudden disappearance "be- 
tween two days" of its publisher. The three 
other journals were the Herald, Whig and the 
Journal. The latter had somewhat of an in- 
vohuilary chameleon reputation. It was 
charged by the Whig with being a democratic 
sheet, and as severely attacked by the Herald 
for its whig proclivities. The editor, L. M. 
Booth, an old newspaper man, had the luck or 
n(ni luck to often be freighted with this un- 
certain reputation. He wiis somewhat in the 
situation of the two Iri.shmen. .strangers who 
met and each thought that he recognized the 
other. After a grasp of the hand and a second 
look, both started back, and one of them says : 
"Faith and we're both mistaken, I thought it 
was you and you thought it was me, and it 
seems it is neither of us."' His pai)er did not 
])rosi)er. and he left in April, promptly, like the 
Wochenblatt editor, for California, where he 
soon embarked in a similar business. The Jotir- 
nal fell into the hands of C. M. Woods, who 
changed, in ]\Iay. the name from People's Jour- 
nal to Quincy Journal, and on the 20th of No- 
vember commenced the i.ssue of a daily paper. 
There had been two brief efforts to carry on a 
daily publication in Quincy (once, in 1845. and 
again in 1847) ; each lived but a few months. 
J\lr. Wood's Journal was published at the price 
of ten cents a week. It had difficulties (sus- 
pended once or twice), but after some changes 
in name and ownership, was merged into and 
became the i)resent Daily Herald, the oldest 
continuous daily of the city. Another journal, 
the Columbus Gazette, was started during this 
summer, but its exi.stence was short and its cir- 
culation light and mostly confined to the county 
and its own immediate neighborhood. 

Joui-nalism then, thirty-six years ago, was 
laden with less labor, but also owned less con- 
veniences, than since and now. Local news 
was scant and hard to obtain, and the manu- 
facture of the same was a yet undeveloped art. 
Early news from abroad came at vai-iable pe- 
riods. As illustrative of this, one of the weekly 
journals, in two successive issues, tells its i-ead- 
ers that it has "no .dispatches again this week, 
owing to the storm," a somewhat significant 
comment on what the telegraph was in those 
days. 

The fall electiini for member of congress, 
state treasurer, members of the legislature and 
ciinntv officials was wai-inlv contested, with 



136 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



peculiar and couflietiug results. O. H. Brown- 
ing was the whig, and W. A. Richardson the 
democratic candidate for ct)ngress. Browning 
carried the city by about .50 majority and the 
county (city included) by 189, but was beaten 
in the district ; only one other count}' (Peoria) 
giving him its vote. John Wood, nominated as 
the whig candidate, for the state senate on the 
declination of Col. Ross, of Pike — Adams and 
Pike constituting the senatorial district, re- 
ceived 210 majority in Adams, and C. A. War- 
ren, his democratic opponent, led in Pike 
county by about ,50 votes. In the represent- 
ative district, composed of Adams and Brown 
counties, J. M. Pitman, J. R. Hobbs and J. 
Dearborn were the democratic nominees, 
against whom the whigs ran J. W. Singleton. 
Wm. Morrow and Holman Bowles. Pitman, 
Singleton and I^Jowles went out of Adams with 
small majorities, which the first two retained in 
Brown, where, however, Hobbs secured a ma- 
jority sufficient to elect him. It was amusingly 
noticed at the time, that Dearborn, of Brown, 
got more votes than Hobbs, of Adams, in 
Adams, while again, Hobbs led Dearborn in 
Brown, each appearing to be honored most out 
of his own county. On the county ticket the 
whigs elected the sheriff and treasurer, Humph- 
rey and Pomeroy and the democrats the cor- 
oner, Munroe, by small majorities. The demo- 
cratic state ticket was also successful by from 
two to three hundred votes. This political re- 
sxilt is notable as being a partial success for 
each of the two parties, which for the past 
twenty years had disputed the control of the 
county with about an even record of fortune, 
and because it was the last success of the 
whigs. From this period, with a single acci- 
dental interruption in the legislative succession, 
the democratic party maintained an easy, con- 
tinuous supremacy in all the county elections 
for the following fifteen years. 

An advance in busine.ss life in all directions 
was (as before stated) the marked feature of 
this year. There was an increase in the mill 
and provision product, less noted for the reason 
that enterprise was spreading itself in so many 
other occupations, some new, some exten.sions 
of what had been. As the best criterion by 
which to judge the present prosperity of a com- 
munity, is in the number and extensiveness of 
its factories, where are offered opportunities 
for ingenuity to expand and the largest amount 
of labor to be employed, so the surest test of 
permanent stability is to be foinid in the price 
and valuations of its real estate property. 
Herein is the best basis of a people's wealth, 
and herein Quincy has an even and healthy 
record. Sudden changes in the value of real 



e.state almost always are fictitious, and sooner 
or later prove so. During the sixteen years of 
indepenclent corporate existence, six years as 
a town, ten years as a city, now, in 1850, the 
retrospect revealed a slow but steady step for- 
ward with far less of intluctuation than at- 
tached to the career of most other young com- 
munities of the west. , It had early, it had 
always, and it had now, in 1850, a larger pro- 
portion of people owning their own homes than 
any other town or city of the same grade in the 
west : and this has continued. The reasons for 
this condition of things, it is needless to name. 
The fact exists that there are nearly 50 per 
cent more men in Quincy who own their own 
homes than in any other Illinois city, and it is 
easy for any one to deduce from this how 
strongly, how, of necessity, both business and 
social feelings and interests must combine to 
make assurance of a permanent future. As 
evidencing this record of values during the pe- 
riod above named, the assessment tables tell a 
clear .story. Valuations of real property by as- 
sessors rarely give a correct estimate of the 
value of such property, but the successive valu- 
ations are the best evidence that can be had of 
the varying value of such property running 
through a series of yeai's. 

The first town assessment to be relied upon 
was in lS:3(i. when the town property was val- 
ued at $487,900. Four years later, in 1839, the 
last one made by the town, the valuation was 
$658,443. These valuations were high, much 
higher than would be made at the present time, 
but property all over the we.st had been rated 
at a speculative value some years before and 
so contituied to be, while the percentage of tax 
assessments was low. In 1841, the second year 
of the existence of the city, the valuation of 
real estate was $729,809, and of personal prop- 
erty $95,059. and this proportion, slightly ad- 
vancing each year, became, in 1850, $1,200,391 
for real estate and $353,961 on personal prop- 
erty. In fact, these valuations which in 1835 
were relatively too high, were, in 1850, placed 
almost as nuich too low, the earlier valuations 
being lifted as nearly as possible to the sup- 
posed cash worth of property, and indeed some- 
times above, while the latei" valuations were as 
steadily falling far below what such property 
was actually worth. The reason for this de- 
jiression in the assessments was. first, the in- 
riated value that had been adopted in the early 
times, and again the operation of the, two mill 
tax to pay off the state debt prescribed in the 
the state constitution of 1845. The unexpected 
effect of this two mill tax was, that if all the 
property in the state was valued at anywhere 
near its real worth, a much greater sum would 



1^\ST AND I'KESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



137 



be TiiistMl tci iipjily upon tlic stato (U'l)t tliaii was 
needed oi- pi-dpfi-. Hence, property was valued 
low to accord with the arbitrary standard of 
the two mill tax. while foi' the raising: oi the 
necessary revenue, the state and c-or|)orations 
could easily meet the demands of their budget 
hy increasing the percentage on these low val- 
uations. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



1851. 

pr().-:fi-;kity. the year of "HIgi-i water." 
whig and herald change proprietors, 
ch.a^ngks in the judicial districts, 
jl'dge .-skinner. r.\ilroads again. route 
ch.x^ngkd for broadw.vy to cedar 
streets. .s.a^m holmes mayor. night po- 
lice, new ba.vki.xg law. church on 
ninth and st.\te completed. struck by 
lightning. 

Until the 1st of Febiniary, '51, the river re- 
mained open with fair navigation. It then 
closeii for a week, reopening. It carried 
thi'oughout the year a most extraordinary 
"boom" late into the fall, when it became 
finally ice-blocked 011 the 16th of December. 
This was the Mississippi's greatest, most tri- 
umphant year, when the waters of the upper 
^Mississippi reached a height above the measure 
of any earlier mark. Its flood in 1844 exceeded 
any in general I'ecoUection, although some old 
settlers asserted that the river had been known 
to be higher in 1832 and 1826, and there was 
also an Indian tradition that some time late in 
the la.st century it had attained an height never 
since equaled. Be that as it may, the certainty 
is, that the rise of 1851 surpassed that of any 
within the memory or measure of white men. 
The summer was very rainy, but the chief vol- 
ume of the flood came from the north. While 
this upper portion of the stream was thus nn- 
precedentedly high, below the month of the 
Illinois and of the ^Fissouri, which had been 
vastly swollen in 1844, it did not reach the sum- 
mit water mark of that year. The rise began 
early in .\|iril, upon already full banks. As 
it continued to .swell and passed above the 
measurements of 1844, the old settlers shook 
their heads with "yes. but it won't reach the 
1832 or 1826 figures." However, when, on 
the 6th of June, the measure showed 5 feet 6 
inches above the mark of 1844 they gave up. 

It was a mighty flood, like a vast sea stretch- 
ing from bliift' to bluff. Here. (Ui the city side, 
above and below the town, it washed the foot 
of the hills, filling Front street so much as to 
make it imiiassible and entirely stopping the 
operation of the mills. Xo small temiiorary 



addition to the poi)ulalion of the place was 
made hy the incoming of many families who 
had been "drowned out" of the "bottoms" 
and crowded into the tenement hou.ses in the 
lower part of the city. A i)eculiar occurrence 
beside was, that late in the fall, when ordinarily 
the river is at its lowest, a second swell came 
down, fllliug the lands and overflowing the 
banks as much as is usually done at the regu- 
lar annual rise in June. It does not appear 
that this huge flo<Kl injured to any very great 
degree, the l)usiness interests of the city, al- 
though it mucii inci-eased the sickness, which 
was extensive, anil <|ni1e fatal, during the 
greater part of the year. 

The dreaded cholera revisited the city in a 
more violent form than it had appeared the 
year befctre. hiil much less destructive than 
the scourge of 184!). For eight or ten weeks 
in the late spring and early summer it pre- 
vailed with varying fatality, leaving almost as 
suddenly as it came, with a record of about 
160 deaths. As in its earlier comings, it came 
upon the people almost without premonition, 
and its advent was a shock and terror. The 
first cases noted were in the south part of the 
city, in the Odell family, where, in the short 
space of four, days, the mother and three chil- 
dren were taken and died, and another child 
followed within a week. Thirty deaths oc- 
curred during the last week of May, twenty- 
eight being from cholera. The same feature 
was marked at this time as had been noticed 
on its two former visits, that on the Saturday 
and Sunday of each week it was the most fatal, 
and that during those days about one-half of 
the deaths occurred. The death roll of this 
year bears the names of an unusual number of 
prominent persons and "old settlers." Espe- 
cially of these were E. W. Clowes and Ryon 
Brittingham, brothers-in-law, both early and 
substantial citizens, John B. Young, one of the 
pioneers, who came to this country from Ken- 
tucky at an early date, with somewhat more of 
means than the" generality of the people then 
had, settled first in the south part of ,the 
county, and moved thence to Quincy. To his 
enterprising action the city owes many of its 
best early improvements. There died also W. 
E. T. Biitze. John (ilass, early Cermau immi- 
grants: Dr. II. r,. Weoboken, a German physi- 
cian of uinisual skill and attaiinnents: Dr. J. 
W. Xewland: Charles Morton, the best known 
and most poi)ular "land man" in the state; 
:\Irs. McDade: :Mi.ss Sarah Wood: Ex-Ci>unty 
Judge Andrew Miller and many others of like 
notable position. Among the most conspicu- 
ous and regretted of these was, probably. S. 
:\r. Baiilelt. editor and associate owner of the 



138 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAilS COUNTY. 



Quiney Whig, who died on the 6th of Septem- 
ber, after a .siekne.ss of eight days, the event 
making sad impression. Mr. Bartlett was a 
man of marked traits of character, of fair in- 
tellect, excellent judgment, well experienced in 
the essentials of his profession, with a frank, 
outspoken nature, earnest in believing what 
he said and equally earnest in saying what he 
believed, a clean private character. He had 
during his fifteen years" editorial control of 
the Whig secured a strong reputation through- 
out the west, and the especial confidence of the 
political party of which the Whig was a recog- 
nized organ. He was a native of New Eng- 
land, came early to the west and had worked 
as a journalist and printer in St. Louis and 
Galena prior to his settling in Quiney. He was 
but .38 years of age at the time of his death. 

After the death'of :\Ir. Bartlett the interest 
Avhich he had OAVued in the Whig was pur- 
chased by John T. Morton, who, as editor, 
in connection with H. V. Sullivan, published 
the paper for sevei-al years. This was the first 
change tliat had occurred in the ownership 
and management of the AVhig since its estab- 
lishment, in 1836. The Herald about this time 
went through with one of its many changes, 
being bought by P. Cleveland & Co. Mr. Cleve- 
land was a ready, rapid, somewhat verbose 
writer, more polished, but less vigorous in style, 
than Brooks, the former editor, Avho now be- 
came the publisher and associate editor. Un- 
der their management, which continued for two 
years, the paper extended its popularity and 
political intiuence considerably more than its 
financial condition. 

The old Fifth judicial circuit, originally in- 
eluding all the counties in the ililitary Tract 
and taking in the northwestern section of the 
state, formed, in 1829, was by an act of the late 
legislature divided and a new circuit made, 
composed of the counties of Adams, Hancock, 
Henderson and Mercer. This broke xip many 
of the old time legal associations and limited, 
to some extent, the practice of the Quiney 
law.yers, who had for over twenty years been 
accustomed to "follow the circuit" twice a 
year and appear at the bar of each county 
in the tract. Many of them had local partners 
in the counties outside of Adams. O. C. Skin- 
ner, a prominent lawyer of Quiney, who had 
resided in Carthage before coming to Adams 
county, and while there liad rapidl.v risen to 
the leading position at the Hancock bar, a 
reputation which he well sustained in Quiney, 
was recommended by the bar for the judgeship 
of the new circuit. The desire was then, as it 
had been at the first judicial election, to keep 
the contest from becoming political. This time 



the wish succeeded. The circuit, on a party 
vote, was luidoubtedly whig, and Skinner was 
a most radical ultra democrat, but his high 
judicial capacity was recognized and, no oppo- 
sition being made, he was unanimously elected. 
Some effort was attempted to bring party feel- 
ings into the election for prosecuting attorney, 
but it cut no figure, and J. H. Stewart, an ex- 
perienced law.ver from Henderson county, a 
whig, but not a politician, was elected to that 
office. 

Finally the railroad matter, that for two 
years past had "dragged its slow length 
along," which had been the topic for strife, 
talkative, public meetings, legislative action, 
and had engendered no small amount of per- 
sonal bickering and animosity, was, by the 
general action of the citizens, taken out of its 
troubles and placed on the pathway towards 
certain and early completion. A law had been 
passed through the general assembly at the last 
winter's session legalizing the assessment by 
the cit.v of Quiney of a special tax to meet 
the interest on any railroad bonds that it might 
thereafter issue, and the city council promptly 
provided an ordinance in furtherance of the 
provisions of this law. Another legislative ac- 
tion in the same direction was the law which 
authorized the construction of a railroad from 
some convenient point on the line of the North- 
ern Cross Railroad, within Adams county, run- 
ning thence on the most eligible and prac- 
ticalde route through the ^Military Bounty 
Tract and terminating at the most convenient 
and eligible point at or near the southern 
termination of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, 
prescribing also that such road should not run 
east of Knoxville in Knox county. These two 
judicious attachments to the railroad project 
clinched the heretofore somewhat doubtful 
public confidence in its management and lifted 
it at once to an assured success. The effect 
of the first of these special law-s was to sub- 
stantiate the credit of the city in its intention 
to sustain the enterprise by a bond subscrip- 
tion, and the other promised an eastern con- 
nection by railroad and canal by way of Chi- 
cago and the lakes with the already finished, 
progres.sing thoroughfares which would be im- 
mediate on the completion of the Quiney end 
of the route. This ivas far preferable at the 
time to the building of a road towards the 
centre of Illinois with an indefinite prospect 
of its contiiniance farther eastward. Large 
li.cal subscriptions were now made, amounting 
in Quiney to between $50,000 and .$60,000. and 
also in proportionate liberal figures along the 
proposed route of the road in this and the ad- 
jacent counties. The precise line was not at 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



139 



oiico decided upon or iiuide known, and a;ients 
aud advocates were sent to the various local- 
iiies between Quincy and Galesburi^ to arouse 
iniblie interest and solicit subscriptions; proin- 
isiiitr always, of course, that tlie connnunity 
wliich ottered the most money woukl lie sure 
to secure tlie road. 

One of our prominent yuinc\- lawyers nearly 
came to grief in this endeavor. lU' had made 
a si)eech in a little town in an adjoining county 
and demonstrated that there was the natural 
route for the road, almost the oidy feasible 
line, that the}' needed it. and all that was 
wanted was for the people to subscribe liberal- 
ly, so that some other place wouldn't "buy the 
road away from them," and made a capital and 
well satisfied impression. The ne.Kt day he 
had ;. meetino- in a rival town about five miles 
away, and there "spoke his piece" over again 
with telling eft'ect. when he was suddenly in- 
terrupted by a fellow calling. "Why. Mr. W., 
that's just what you told us yesterday over in 

M : you said the road ^vas bound to come 

through our town and oughtn't to go anywhere 
else." To any other than this most adroit of 
legal gladiators this would have been a crusher. 
He was staggered foi- the moment, but recov- 
ered with. ■"Well, gentlemen, I did say some- 
thing of the kind to those fellows over there 
and the gudgeons all believed me." Brown 
and i\rcDonough counties voted, the first ifcio.- 
000. the second $50,000. 

At a ])nblie meeting of the citizens of Quincy 
on January li-lth, it was proposed that the city 
sliould vote a subscription of .$100,000 and pur- 
chase the interests of the company which owned 
the road for $20,000 in stock. This latter ar- 
rangement was perfected, and the council, on 
the "iTth. ordered an election to be held on 
ilarch 1st. njion the proposition to subscribe 
$100,000. which resulted in an almost unan- 
imously favorable vote. 1.074 for to 19 opposed. 
At a meeting of the stockholders on the 22d 
of ]March. which was largely attended. X. Bush- 
nell, .1. .M. Pitman. H. Rogers, J. D. :\Iorgan 
and L. liull were elected directors by the indi- 
vidual stockholders. Mayor Holmes represent- 
ing the city, which had the larger portion of 
the stock, easting its vote in the same dii-ection. 
The directors organized by electing N. Bush- 
nell. President : J. 0. Woodruff. Secretary, who 
soon resigned, and was succeeded by John 
Field, and he soon after by John C. Cox. S. 
D. Eaton was appointed Chief Engineer, and 
in April work began at the corner of Twelfth 
and Broadway. 

At the April city election IMayor Samuel 
Holmes was rechosen by a majority of 268. 
out of a total vote of 984. over M. B. Dennian. 



the whig nominee. At the same time C. A. 
Savage, Thomas Redmond and Oeo. W. Brown 
were elected aldermen in the First, Second and 
'J'hird wards. This election of two whigs and 
one deiuoeral made the council a tie politically 
and was the basis for a good deal of dissension 
and harsh feeling in that body. This feeling 
had been shown somewhat in the retiring coun- 
cil, where after the board had voted to raise 
the mayor's salary from $250 to $350, he re- 
fused to receive it because it had not been 
unanimously voted. 

]\[r. Lock filed a notice of contest for the seat 
given to ]Mr. Redmond, who had beaten him by 
17 votes. This was finally withdrawn, but re- 
mained long enough to stir up considerable per- 
sonal feeling, and when the selection of a city 
clerk came up (this officer at that time being 
elected by the council), no choice could be se- 
cured for several meetings, not. indeed, until 
after 75 fruitless ballotings. There were two 
democratic aspirants for the place, each of 
whom secured two votes, one of these votes 
coming from a whig alderman, while two of 
the whigs voted for a whig candidate, thus pre- 
venting the ma>'or's having an o])portunity to 
(h'cide the choice by his casting vote. After a 
couple of weeks' wrangle, however, the demo- 
ci-ats in the council "rose to the occasion" and 
adopting a motion to elect by resolution, chose 
Mv. Cleveland clerk. He had held the office 
for the two past years, and it was partly from 
some dissatisfaction tow;irds him and partially 
growing t)nt of the unwillingness of the whigs 
to select the city officials until the Lock-Red- 
mond contest was settled, which caused this 
struggle over the clerkship. It was the first 
occasion of personal, political strife, that had 
appeared in the council, which in the early 
days had very little of that demonstrative ele- 
ment which not unfre(iuently wakes up its ses- 
sions nowadays. 

Owing perhaps to this di.ssension and delay 
over the organization of the council no formal 
fiscal statement for the past year was pub- 
lished, but the city affairs appeared to have 
been well conducted and its credit sustained, 
though the debt had sonunvhat increased. 

]Mr. Holmes was a skillfid business man. with 
unusual aptitude for public bu.siuess and well 
acquainted with the city's history and wants, 
and made a highly commendable record as 
mayor. 

During this year's administration was begun 
the organization of a night police, and the sec- 
ond revision of the ordinances was made under 
the supervision of the mayor. 

Prices in all things were rising, as they had 
been for the jiast two years, beef at eight cents 



140 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



and mutton seven cents per pound, and other 
necessaries in proportion, made living some- 
what more expensive tlian it had before been. 
Real estate advanced rapidly in demand and 
value. One .sale indicates this proportionate 
progress. The ten acre tract at the southeast 
corner of Maine and Eighteenth streets, now 
known as the Collins property, which had been 
bought five years before by the late Secretary 
of State, Cooley, for .$1,000 ($100 per acre), 
was now sold for .$2,525, or $252.50 an acre, 
cash, no improvement of value being on the 
ground. All over the city, as there was also 
throughout the country, real estate was in 
eager demand and was changing owners rapid- 
ly and at rising figures. 

Money was plenty and easily obtained, and 
the adoption of the State Bank law gave 
broader opportunities for the establishment of 
"money factories," as they were called, and 
for a greater increase in the amount of paper 
circulation. A curious feature in regard to the 
bank law, which went into operation at this 
time, was the sectional character of the eon- 
test. It was partially made a political issue. 
The whigs all favored it, the democrats gen- 
erallj' opposed it. The southern section of the 
state strongly democratic, was almost solid 
against the law, the central belt, which was 
whig, and the noi-thern portion, then demo- 
cratic, favored it. Chicago voted thirty to one 
for the law, and yet, as a curi(nis commentary 
on this, is the fact that wlien the law was rati- 
fied by far the larger number of the banks 
organized under it were located in the southern 
part of the state, where it had received the 
greatest opposition. The majority for the law 
in the state was 62,221. 

Much of handsome and substantial building 
was done during this year. The fine brick 
church long known as the Centre Congrega- 
tional, at the corner of Fourth and Jersey, a 
branch of the 1st Congregational Society, was 
commenced. 

It is now owned by the Baptists. The Pres- 
byterian church, on J\Iaine street, was enlarged 
and imitroved, and the Lutlieran church, now 
replaced by the imiiosing structure on the cor- 
ner of State and Ninth, was completed. 

Touching this latter, a mishap occurred sad 
to those who were the sufferers but amusing to 
worldlings. By some error or oversight the 
lightning rod placed along down the outside 
of the steeple was carried as far as the belfrey 
and there landed, hanging there with no con- 
nection to the earth. The lightning caixght on 
the tip of the rod, followed it down and when 
it came to the lower end spread itself, shiver- 
ing the steeple and setting it on fire. The flame 



was soon extinguished, but the splintered 
steeple remained as a reminder that Provi- 
dence cares no more for its own buildings than 
any others, unless they were properly finished. 
It was rather a shock to the faith of some 
good people. 



CHAPTER XXX. 
1852. 

CJOV. CARLIN. FIRST DAILY MAIL BY STE.-\MER. 
THE WHIG BECAME A DAILY. IMPROVE- 
MEN'I\S. BOOM IN BUSINESS, MILL BURNED. 
FIRST 0FFICI.4L REPORT OF THE SUPER- 
INTENDENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS. KciSSUTH 
I.NVITED TO QUINCY. R.\ILRO.A.D WORK CAR- 
RIED ON. WHITNEY. TH.\YER. 'IMIAYER 
BY A POLITICAL MISTAKE. EILECTS TRUM- 
BULL TO THE U. S. SENATE. POLITICAL 
CH.\NGES. M.-VYOR'S S.-^LARY RAISED TO $300. 
POLITIC.A.L. 

A second vote was taken at the town elec- 
tions in April, on the question of the continu- 
ance of the township organization system in 
the county, which had now been in operation 
for two years. It was sustained by a vote of 
1,532, with but 222 cast against it, two towns 
only, Ursa and Beverly, voting to fall back to 
the county court system. Quincy, as at the 
former election on this issue, did not vote. 

This was a severe season for the farmers in 
this section of the state, owing to the ravages 
of the army worm and other insect pests, which 
did extensive injury to the early crops. The 
river opened as early as the 8th of February, 
closing for the succeeding winter on Christ- 
mas day. Navigation was unusually good in 
the early part of the season, and the water rose 
to witliin three inches of the great flood of 
1S44. and about five feet less than that greatest 
of floods in 1851 ; but it ran very low in the 
fall, so much so that the St. Louis packels were 
not able to make their trips above Quincy after 
the middle of November. 

The first regular daily mail by steamer was 
established in April from St. Louis to Galena, 
which was continued for many years, until 
superseded by the more rapid railroad convey- 
ance. Before this time occasionally mail mat- 
ter had been carried on the boats and messen- 
gers appointed to take it in charge, but it was 
only occasional and never became permanent 
until now. 

The Whig opened out as a daily on the 22d 
of JMarch, issuing at the same time a tri-weekly. 
It was the beginning of the present Daily Whig, 
althougli it met with two or three temporary 
sus])ensions before it became substantially es- 
tablisliril. The uncertainties of the telegraph 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAIMS COUNTY, 



141 



{111(1 tlie (If.irtli of local jiiatlers of interest were 
the difficulties which hampered the establish- 
ment of a daily paper in those days. 

The winter of 18ol-52 was very cold and con- 
tinued late into the spring. On the lOth of 
Ai)ril there came one of the most severe and 
iinseasoiialde storms ever known in the west, 
extending throughout the state and lasting for 
several days. The snowfall was from one to 
two feci in depth. 

Much improvement was made in the general 
a]ipearance of the jdace by the building of 
maiiN' limidsome. tasteful private residences, a 
feature peculiarly lacking heretofore, and also 
of large and substantial storehouses. The city 
v(-as growing fa.st. Among the needed and im- 
posing improvements was Kendall's, after- 
wards known as the (Mty Hall, at the corner of 
]Maine and Sixth streets, at a cost of about 
ij;-J().()(l(l. This was notable as being the first 
])ublic hall in the place. Before this time the 
C'ourt House or the churches, if they could be 
obtained, were the only conveniences for lec- 
tures, fairs and all exhibitions of a like charac- 
ter. Jlr. Orrin Kendall, the owner of this hall, 
Avas one of (^uincy's most energetic and enter- 
prising men. He moved from here to Chicago, 
and, as though he had a passion for such plans, 
erected there a hall patterned almost precisely 
after that in Quincy and endowed it with his 
naiiic, a handsome structure, which fell before 
the great fire of 1871. The stone Episcopal 
church, now the Cathedral, was finished during 
this year. 

The 1)00111 ill real estate property continued. 
An indication of these values was shown in the 
sale of what was then known as the "^last cor- 
ner." so called from its owner. ]\Iichael Mast, 
an eccentric, popular little man, a tailor, the 
earliest (ierman settler in the place, and the 
first tailor also. This property, 491'^ feet on 
Maine by Kill feet on Fifth street. Avas sold in 
September for .$4,165, about .$85 per front foot 
on i\Iaine. There were on it no improvements 
of value. The contrast of these figures is 
curious with what the same jiroperty "went 
for" twenty-seven years before at the County 
Comiiiissioner.s' sale. Then the entire corner 
lot. !)!) feet by 198. of which the "IMast corner" 
was one-fourth, brought at auction. .$16.25, 
about 17 cents per foot. (^>uite a handsome 
specniaticiu. 

Business of all Idnds was active and extend- 
ing. There was in it a bustle, life and confi- 
dence that gave most sanguine promise for the 
future. With a fast increasing population, real 
estate rapidly accreting in value, money facil- 
ities all that could be de.sired, eastern railroad 
connections assured, this was much the iiiosf 
livelv and seeminglv successful vcar that 



(.(jiiincy had known since 1836. The staple 
business of the past winter had been up to the 
standard. Between 19,000 and 20,000 hogs 
were the reported product of the packing sea- 
son of 1851-52. about the average of the three 
or four iireceding years. The great Hour mill- 
ing business, which, for the last fifteen years, 
had been a sj)ecialty of (juincy. as ahead of any 
of the upper ilississippi cities, was increasing 
in proportion to its past standard, bnt it met 
with temporary misfortune during the year. 
Two of the largest of the half-dozen flour mills 
came to what is the frequent fate of such stnic- 
tiires, destruction by fire. These were the 
Wheeler & Osborii and Smith mills, on Front 
street, burned on the 17th of September. 

So common had then become, as it still is, 
this fatality of steam mills, that it was said 
somewhat savagely, but suggestively, when 
these two went down, ■'Well, this makes four 
steam fiour mills biinieil in the last two years. 
Better call them steam fii'e mills." A tally of 
the grist mills in (Quincy which have thus been 
cremated, would more than exhaust one man's 
fingers. 

Among the chief manufacturing establish- 
ments of the place, and perhaps that which 
handled the heaviest transactions of any. was 
the Thayer distillery, located about one-half 
mile south of the city, whose report at this 
time stated the cost of the buildings, etc., to 
have been $:i0.n()n : that there was annually 
consumed 8(l(>.(iOii bushels of grain: $12,500 
paid for cooperage: $4,500 ]iaid to wood 
choppers: $8,000 to employes, and that there 
was capacity for feeding 2,000 hogs and about 
half that number of cattle, which each year 
was fully used. 

The first published official report of the 
superintendent of the public schools was issued 
this year. Before this i)eriod. as required by 
law. a brief formal statement was ainmally 
handed into the council, and as briefly and for- 
mally placed away on file. A detailed report 
of the condition of the public schools was. on 
the commendafory recommendation of the 
mayor, ordered to be summari/.ed and officially 
published, since which time this has been an- 
nually done, and it is only from this date that 
a fair history of the public schools can be made, 
the earlier i-ecords being meager or lost. The 
public schools liad now. after many year's of 
trial, outlived all the ojiiiosition and iirejudice 
with which they were at first assailed: were 
well managed, tiourishing. and favored by the 
treneral public. There were two schools, large- 
ly attended, each with a primary department 
attached, employing in all eight teachers. 

The esjiecial natiiuial excitement of this 
\e,-ii- was the coiiiini;- to .Vmerica of the noted 



142 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



patriot and exile Kossuth, who was wai'mly 
welcomed all over the land by manifestations 
of sympathy and respec-t such as have been ac- 
corded to uo foreigner except when Lafayette 
made his tour through the United States in 
1824-25. Beside the interest that he attracted 
as being the most eminent representative of re- 
publican freedom in Europe, he was an orator 
of most graceful and persuasive nature. He 
was gifted with a lingual facility that enabled 
him to use the English language with a readi- 
ness and aptitude e(iual to Carl Schurz, to 
whom, while he was inferior in force and orig- 
inality of intellect, he was far superior in elo- 
cutionary grace. The "Kossuth craze," as it 
was called, pervaded the whole country, 
Qniney, as well, and tlie ]\Iayor, always alive to 
catch a popular feeling, jilaced before the c(nin- 
cil a proposition to officially extend to Kos- 
suth the courtesies of the city, which was done, 
and seconded also by a public meeting of the 
citizens. Kossuth did not come, but he was 
met and greeted at St. Louis by a formal rep- 
resentation of the council and by a large dele- 
gation of the citizens, who retiu-ned delighted 
with him and themselves. 

The railroad work went steadily forward, 
between two and three hundred men being em- 
plo.ved in grading at various points along the 
line within twenty miles of Quincy. As almost 
the entire original state survey had been aban- 
doned, and a new line laid out, the lawyers, of 
course, reaped a small harvest out of a good 
many "right of way" eases that naturally came 
up. Some not pleasant jars occurred also over 
this question, whether the road should be fin- 
ished first from Camp Point to the Illinois river, 
or pushed northwards to a Chicago connection. 
The indefiniteness of that clause in the charter, 
which prescribed that the road should not run 
east of Knoxville, and the uncertainty of where 
would be the Mississippi terminus of the C, B. 
& Q. road, which was rapidly reaching south- 
ward, also the adverse interests of other con- 
templated railroads in the upper section of the 
IMilitary Tract, added to these embarrassments. 
They were all finally adjusted, however, with 
the conclusion that the northern connection 
should be first secured by the way of Gales- 
burg. IMcDonough county, in May, by a ma- 
jority of 173, in a pretty large vote after a 
hotly contested election, voted a subscription 
of :i;100,000, and in August, Brown county fol- 
lowed suit b.v the decisive vote of 749 for, to 
316 against, a bond subscription of !tiriO,000. and 
about $25,000 of private subscription was 
raised at Meredosia and points westward along 
the line. 

At the October session of the cit.v coiincil the 
railroad asked from the city the right of way 



on Front street, from Broadway north to the 
city limits, and also the use by "loan'" or grant, 
or otherwise, of a portion of the public laud- 
ing for depot purposes. The right of way 
was given and also the grant of a tract two 
hundred feet in length on the west side of 
Front street and north of Vermont. This was 
the first of the franchises granted by the city, 
followed by others of like nature; which have 
given to this one railrt)ad so much; and, so far 
as other roads are concerned, exclusive privi- 
lege. These were accorded to what, at the 
time, was the Northern Cross railroad, but 
passed and continued when it became absorbed 
in the C, B. & Q. railroad. 

The brief statement heretofore given of the 
transactions of the Tha.ver distillery as par- 
tially illustrative of the business of the place, 
should be supplemented by a mention of other 
intere.sts carried on at the same time by its 
active and enterprising proprietor, who was 
generally recognized as the foremost business 
man of the city. 

With this reference to 'Sir. Thayer and his 
career is associated the remembrance of another 
man who occupied the same relative position 
through ten or twelve years of an earlier pe- 
riod. The business enterprises of these two 
men were almost precisely the same, their in- 
fluence and position in the community was very 
much alike, and the career of each came to a 
lunu'ly similar close. The names of what are 
called business men, however conspicuous they 
may be for the time, do not live on the recoi'ds 
like those of the politician and the placeman, 
lint their immediate importance and influence 
is far more effectively felt, is often more ad- 
vantageous and much more permanent. 

U. G. Whitney came to Quincy from 
:\rarietta, Ohio, about 1831 or '32, started a 
store in partnership with Richard S. Green, and 
rapidly rose to the position of being the most 
extensively engaged and supposed wealthiest 
merchant of the town, a place which he main- 
tained for many years. Of a genial, generous 
disposition, quiet but attractive demeanor, he 
had great luisiness ambition and a shrewd, 
bold, broad capacity therefor. Beside manag- 
ing his large mercantile establishment on the 
west side of the square, where probably more 
trade Avas done than at any three or four of 
the other stores, he had interests in several 
country stores; built also in 1834 a distillei'v 
two miles lielow the town : later on erected a 
large steam flour and saw mill ten miles south, 
and in connection with it put up a capacious 
warehouse on the west river bank, about six 
miles above Hannibal, and subsequently built, 
at the corner of Maine and Front streets, two 
brick storehouses, the largest structures of 



PAST A.ND I'KESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



143 



the kind then in tlie city. In addition to the 
care of these manifold interests, lie was inter- 
esteil in the steamboat tratfie between St. Jjouis 
and Qniney, and more or less each year en- 
gaged in grain and provision speculation. 
About 1837-:58 he built the house now owneil 
by tJeneral Singleton ("Boscobel"), whii-h 
when erected, was the most expensive and ele- 
gant private resideiu-e in this section of the 
state, lie pulled with apparent success 
through the '"luirtl times"" of 1837 and after, 
but failed about 1842 or '43, and twice after- 
ward each time with a huge cloud of \iu-;i] iii- 
debtetlne.ss aliout him. ilespite which lir twirc 
temporarily established himself through his 
l)ersonal j)opularity and his sti'ong hohl upon 
public confidence. On his final failure, he re- 
moved to Califoi'uia, in 184!), and thei"e partial- 
ly succeeded in restoring his fortunes, but 
never attained the pre-eminence that he sus- 
tained here. His death was caused by being 
crushed between the cars about twelve yeai's 
ago. 

About 1844 or "4.5. whiMi the financial pres- 
tige of 'Sir. Whitney was declining. 'Mr. Syl- 
vester Thayer came from Xew York and 
opened a dry goods store on the north side of 
the public sipiare. >uider the tirm luime of S. & 
AV. B. Thayer, afterwards Thayer & Co. Later 
they purchased and removed to the building 
on the southwest corner of Maine and Fourth. 
The younger brother was popular, and the 
older one shrewd, longheaded and enterprising. 
They soon stejiped into an extending city and 
county trade, and gradually enlarged their op- 
erations in the same manner as ;\Ir. Whitney 
luid done ten or twelve years before. They 
built and operated a large steam mill at the 
foot of Delaware street, and erected on the op- 
posite side of the street the largest warelKuise 
in the city, and probably the largest above 
St. lj(niis. with a depth of one hundred and 
sixty-seven feet and a width of si.Kty feet. 
wliich is .still standing and has since been 
used for a tobacco factory and other pui-po.ses; 
also the distillei-y south of the city, since 
known as Curtis"; nuule large stock purchases, 
bought acres of grazing lands in ilissouri and 
operated on a scale as nuich more extensive 
than had l)een done before as the size and 
business of the city was greater than it had 
ever Ijeen. 

Some yeai's subse(|i'.eiit to this i)eriod (1852) 
they failed hoi>elessly. loaded as Mr. Whitney 
had been with local indebtedness, but this fail- 
ure was different in the one resi)ect. that Thay- 
er carried down with him the two banking 
houses of Flagg & Savage and IMoore. TTollow- 
bush & Co., while Whitnev's failure involved 



only a great nuiid)er of individual creditors. 
The failui'cs of these two men, owing so ex- 
tensively as they ditl, was a crippling misfor- 
tune to many, but yet Quincy owed them much. 

During the twenty-five or thirty years when 
the one or the other of them was a leading 
spirit of (Quincy "s business, it was to a great 
degree theii- enteri)rise. means, business bold- 
ness aiul sagacity that kept the city ahead of 
the competition of surrounding rivals, gave it 
life, activity and employment, and engrafted 
upon it prosperities which were bound to be- 
come jiermanent. Such men make towns 
though they fiiil. The business history of 
(^)uiiicy would be half untold if these nu'u and 
wluit they did, were omitted. 

.Ml-. Thayer was pers(uially a difterent man 
from .Mr. Whitney. He was thoroughly a busi- 
lu'ss inau. and rai'ely seen in society, always 
either at his counting I'oom or place of busi- 
ness, or at home. He was also an extreme 
democrat as Mi-. Whitney was as ardent a 
whig, but he oidy touched politics when it fell 
in the way of his business interests. He was 
elected aldenuaii and mayor and was very effi- 
cient in both i)ositions. To him in a large de- 
gree, and vei-y much to his regret when- the 
result transpired, is tine the election of the first 
republican U. S. Seiuitoi' from Illinois. It is a 
curious piece of local political lii.story, still 
more curious from its broad effects. The whig, 
or anti-Nebraska convention, as it was called, 
in 1854, had nominated for the legislature 
^lessrs. Sullivan and (Jooding. xV bitter per- 
sonal feeling between yiv. Gooding and Dr. 
Harrington, who was an aspirant for the nom- 
ination, both being citizens of Paysou, made 
Dr. Harrington incline to come out as an in- 
dependent candidate against (rooding. At this 
same time the temperance matter had stalked 
into the canvass and a series of awkward 
(piestions upon this subject was publicly pro- 
jiounded to the legislative caiulidates. The re- 
ply of ]Mr. Ruddle, one of the democratic nom- 
inees, to the effect that he ^v•as not especially 
hostile to a moderately restrictive temperance 
law if passed iipon by the people, did not ac- 
cord with the intei'est and views of ]\Ir. Thayer, 
and when Dr. Harringt(ui ai)])eared as a can- 
didate ^Ir. Thayer actively thi'ew all the in- 
Hnence that he could exert against Ruddle and 
in support of Harrington. The result was that, 
while the democi-atic ticket carried the county 
at the Novend)er election by several Imndred 
nui.jority, 'Sir. Huddle was beaten for the legis- 
lature by 'Sly. Sullivan, who led him six votes 
(Dr. Harrington getting between 600 and 
700), evei-y other democrat on the ticket be- 
ing elected. These six votes placed Siillivan 



144 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



in the legislature, which thu.s had a republican 
nia.jorit_y of one. by which one vote, Lyman 
Trumbull was chosen to the United States Sen- 
ate. As Jlr. Thayer said afterwai'ds, the re- 
sult unfortunately exceeded his expectations. 
What might have been the bearing upon the 
country and parties had Trumbull not been 
chosen, and Shields or ]\latteson elected to the 
senate as affirming Illinois in the support of 
Douglas' Nebraska policy, is a question for 
politicians to speculate on if they choose, but 
it is a queer fact that this result was brought 
about by a trifling local dispute and accident 
in Adams county. 

Money flowed freely during these days. The 
state was flooded with bank note promises to 
pay. The free banking law of 1851 was pro- 
ducing its natural fruits ("dead sea apples," 
as they partially proved to be), as will the 
results of every financial scheme that proposes 
to perpetuate a uniform eipialized national cur- 
rency which is based on other security than 
the national credit, faith and industry. Flagg 
& Savage, the leading brokers, organized the 
"City Bank of Quiuey" and issued notes. 
Their's was the earliest established pi'ivate 
bank of issue in the place. Their notes, how- 
ever, did not circulate at home, but were ex- 
changed for others of an eiiuivalent face value 
issued by some distant banks, organized and 
with a circulation secured ( ?) by the deposit of 
state bonds, bought or borrt)wed, and the 
cheaper these were, the better for the banks. 

Quincy was much exercised about this time 
for the want of a "nom de plume." All the 
other cities in the land had their fancy names, 
and Quincy had none. The titles it should 
with most apparent propriety claim, of 
"Mound City" or "Bluff City," had already 
been assumed by St. Louis and Hannibal. It 
was proposed to call it the Hill City, but that 
would have dwarfed it alongside of Hannibal, 
and ilountain City was too moiretrous. There 
were sixteen churches in Quincy at this time. 
a very large number in proportion to the pious 
popvilation, and it was seriously urged to have 
the place christened "the City of Churches," 
but this was a name that might not stick, and 
had already been adopted elsewhere. So the 
city went upbaptized for awhile longer, until 
the name "Gem City" was assumed, why, how 
or for what specific reason it is difficult to say, 
although there are some appropriate points to 
warrant this title, and it has now become per- 
manently fixed. 

A special session of the legislature was called 
which began on the 6th of June and ended on 
the 26th. It was important only to Quincy 
for the reason that the Pike county railroad 



matter was being battled over in the legisla- 
ture, and now became a local question of some 
importance. Quincy railroad interests sought 
to "stave oft'" the granting of a charter to the 
Pike county road (from Hannibal to Naples) 
until the N. C. R. R. was completed to Mere- 
dosia. In this they mainly succeeded, but the 
(juestion entered into and a good deal affected 
the political issues in the city for some years. 

This was a year of notable political changes 
and surprises alike in local and national affairs. 
The city election in April was a singular show- 
ing, completely reverisng the previous political 
order of things. The council, which two years 
before in ISoO. had consisted of five democrats 
and one whig, now had five whigs and one dem- 
ocrat. The whig council, following the prece- 
dent of their predecessors, placed in all the 
appointive offices men of their own political 
faith. E. H. Buckley was chosen city clerk, 
which place he occupied for the next two years, 
and the entii'e city "outfit"" was composed of 
whig officials. John Wood was chosen mayor 
over J. il. Pitman bv 190 majority on a vote 
of about 1.200, and John Wheeler," A. B. Dor- 
man and J. N. Ralston were elected aldermen, 
the whigs carrying every ward for the first 
time in the history of the city. 

But little of new and local importance oc- 
curred in the transactions of the council dur- 
ing the year. One rather amusing excitement, 
such as Quincy occasionall}^ and Quincy only 
can furnish, came up during the latter part 
of Mayor Holmes' administration, over the 
matter of paying the annual state tax. The 
collection of this tax had been heretofore made 
by a ditt'erent official and at a different period 
from that of the city tax, and now by law the 
time for its payment was advanecd, thi'owing 
the collection of two taxes into the same year. 
The fact that Quincy paid no county tax, and 
perhajjs the other anonmlous fact that for sev- 
ei-al years the eastern part of the county had 
avoided the payment of taxes, had put into the 
heads of some earnest people the idea that the 
paying of state taxes, apparently twice in the 
same year, could be got clear of, notwithstand- 
ing that they were based on separate assess- 
ments. So much stir was made over this ques- 
tion that the mayor, who. with many merits as 
a citizen and official, always had an eye to the 
vox poiMili vox Dei, especially the popular eye, 
called a public meeting to decide whether the 
state tax of 1851 ought to be collected. The 
meeting was a large one and it was there re- 
solved that, while the payment of two taxes, 
so nearly together, was a hardship, yet it could 
not be evaded, and so this little teapot tempest 
was calmed down. 



PAST AM) 1 'RESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



145 



Tlic line spcci;!! iictimi ol' tlic new city roiiii- 
cil tliiit created comment jiikI ci-iticism. was 
llicir raisiii<;- the salary of the mayor from ^fi'J.jO 
to $:i(M). Ill the earlier times the mayor was 
not only the fiiiiirehead of the city in his rep- 
resentative character as j)resident of the coun- 
cil and vested with a good deal of executive 
aulliority, but he was also, ex officio, a matiis- 
li'.ilr and expected to serve as such. .-iikI was, 
wilhal. street superintendent. Sinne of the 
earlier mayors. Conyers and Wood, for in- 
stance, from a sense of duty and personal in- 
clination, save up most of their time to over- 
s(>ein!>' the street gradini;'. the layinu' of side- 
walks, liutters. etc.. Avhich was no small task 
fur whoever undertook to personally superin- 
tend all the details. The duties attaching to a 
se;it in the city conueil were not as many as 
in later years, nor was the aldermanic dignity 
so pi'ized and scnitiht after as now: but for 
these, oi' some other reasons, the selection of 
men to fill such positions was taken much more 
satisfactorily. Take, for instance, the names of 
the aldermen of this year. 1852, who were a 
fair samjjle of what and who the city fathers 
used to be. John Wheeler, ("has. A. Savage. 
Thomas Redmond, A. B. Dorman, Dr. J. N. Ral- 
ston, (ieoi'ge W. Brown, all representative men 
whose intelligence and character commanded 
])ublic confidence, strongly contrasting with 
some of our later day councils. 

Political feeling I'an high during this last. 
lio|)eless. struggle of the whig party for a na- 
tional existence. Large i)arty mass meetings 
were held during the campaign. The demo- 
cratic ticket carried both county and city, giv- 
ing Pierce for president over Scott, and Matte- 
son, for governor over Webb, nearly 400 ma- 
jority, and the local candidates about 50 less. 
To congress. W. A. Richardson was elected 
over O. 11. Browning, J. M. Pitman, John Moses 
and David Wolf to the legislature from Adams, 
and Brown over J. R. Chittenden. J. C. Cox 
and John Lomax. and Levy Palmer, sheriff, 
and C. JI. Woods, circuit clerk, beat R. P. Coats 
and John Field. Calvin A. Warren was elect- 
ed state's attorney by alxnit fiOO niajorily over 
J. n. Stewart, the former incumbent. The 
freesoil vote of 261 in 1S48. now fell otV to 
107. and the 190 Avhig majority at the April 
city election was replaced by an e(|ual niajor- 
itv on the other side. 



CHAPTER XXXT. 
1853. 

I'ORK SHIPPED SOUTH BY BO.\T IN J.XNU.\Ry. 
THE EELS CASE. JUDGE SKINNER ON THE 
FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. QUINCY GASLIGHT 
AND COKE COMPANY. BANKING. ENGLISH 



.\ND GERMAN SEMINARY. JEFEERSON SCHOOL 
PROPERTY. Hl'SINESS PROSPERITY. CHAR- 
TER FOR A BRIDGE. COUNTY AGRICULTUR.A.L 
SOCIETY. QUINCY MADF, .\ PORT OF ENTRY. 
THE GERM.\N TRIHUNE. $100.0011 VOTED TO 
RAILRO.VD. I.MPRi)Vi;.MKNT OF MAINE. HAMP- 
SHIRE AND HRO.\l>\\AV. AGITATION FOR 
PL.\.\K ROAD TO nrRToN. RO.VD ON OPPO- 
SITE SIDE OF RIVER TO THE BLUFFS. FIRST 
"STRIKE." "OUINCY Hl.UIIS" OTHER ilUA- 
TARY ORGANlZ.N'lh i.V 

Navigation, which luul ended on the 2r)th of 
December. 1852. was resumed on the first of 
February, and continued tnitil Christmas again 
in 1853. The i-iver had been open here during 
most of the winter, and about the middle of 
January a boat, the Regulator, which had been 
wintering hei'c. started sonlliward laden with a 
heavy sliipmeiit of pork, antl after ten or 
twelve days" battle with the ice, reached St. 
fjouis, and returned to Quincy. It was then an 
important advance gained to get the winter 
jiarking product of Quincy to St. Louis or the 
south at the eai'liest possible period. The busi- 
ness in this line for the season had been good, 
and some 21.000 hogs were reported as having 
been packed. The pi-iee greatly varied, run- 
ning from $3.50 nj) to .+(i.0(). 

The "Eels case."" which had been contro- 
verted in the various courts for many yeai's, 
originating about 1837. was decided on the 
21st of January. This case was important and 
had much national attention, becau.se it judi- 
cially settled the personal responsibility of par- 
ties in a free state who assisted the farther 
escape of slaves after they had tied clear from 
the state where local law recognized them as 
property, thus sustaining the validity of the 
then existing fugitive slave law in extending 
its operations into the free states, was espe- 
cially interesting to Quincy people, for the rea- 
son that the defendant had long been a promi- 
nent citizen of this plac(>, where the ease com- 
menced. Dr. Richard Eels, whose name has 
thus become somewhat accidentally historical 
in connection with the early anti-slavery 
strifes, was a well established physician here, 
and was a member of a small association which 
aided onward to Canada runaway slaves. The 
case with its long continuation, financially 
ruined Dr. Eels, and the anxieties which it 
ci'cated probably aided in breaking down his 
health, lie died in the West Indies about the 
time that this suit was determined. He was 
an unusually capable i)hysician and a worthy 
man of rather extreme and unbalanced opin- 
ions njion some subjects. Connected with the 
topic above mentioned, which was once a con- 
stant vexation, but had of late generally passed 
out of thought, there came up a slight renewal 
of the old slavery fever. A public meeting in 
Clarion county. Mo., had resolved to have no 
business iiitiTccuirsc with Quincy on account of 



146 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



the disposition of so many of its people to har- 
bor and aid runaway slaves. The question 
here was agitated a.s to what was the obliga- 
tion in this matter in Illinois under the black 
laws prescribed by the new constitution, and 
how far the legal machinery of the state was 
subservient to the demand for the return of 
fugitives. Judge Skinner, who at this time was 
on the circuit bench, made public his opinion 
that only the United States law and United 
States officials had cognizance of such cases, 
and so with this closed nearly the last of the 
old-time sensitive trouble between Quincy and 
its near neighbors across the river. 

The Quincy Gaslight and Coke Company, 
which had been incorporated at the legislative 
session of 1852-53, perfected its organization 
on the 9th of August, with a capital stock of 
$75,000, and made its local contract with the 
city for a twenty-five years' exclusive privi- 
lege. The greater portion of this stock was in 
the ownership of A. B. Chambers, of St. Louis, 
and he controlled the affairs of the company 
for a long time. The remainder of the stock 
was divided among the local ehai'ter members. 
The company bought on th? 30th of July the 
ground at the corner of Jersey and Ninth, 
which they yet occupy, and began work at 
once. Ample means were at the command of 
the St. Louis parties, and the enterprise was 
rapidly and judiciously piished, coming to an 
early completion and proving to be for a long 
time most satisfactory to the public and more 
remunei-ative to the owners than any of the 
other inter-corporate improvements in the city. 

Banking matters i)art()ok of the general 
quick activity. The "Quincy Savings and In- 
surance Co..'' with banking privileges, char- 
tered the winter liefore, formally organized. 
This was afterwards, witli some changes of 
name and control, the First National Bank of 
Quincy. A private banking house was opened 
during the summer on the north .side of the 
l)ublic square by Ebenezer Moore, J. R. Hol- 
lowbiish and E. F. Hoffman, under the name of 
Moore, Hollowbush & Co. It did a handsome 
and lucrative, business until carried down like 
the other bank of Flagg c& Savage, by the fail- 
ure of the Thayers three or four years later. 

An "English and German Seminary," under 
the auspices of the Methodist church, was pro- 
jected this year, and through earnest efforts, 
enlisting other denominational influences, it be- 
came a success. This is tlie institution which 
was erected and long located in the imposing 
brick structure on Spring street between Thii-d 
and Fourth, generally known as the "Method- 
ist College," now the Jefferson school house. 
Some vears after this, the name was changed 



to "Johnson College." in honor of one of its 
donors, and later still, in recognition of an- 
other beneficent gifts, it was rechristened 
"Chaddock College." which title it has since 
worn. About the time of this last change of 
name (in 1875) the college was removed to the 
corner of State and Twelfth streets, and estab- 
lished in the Gov. Wood residence, which had 
been purchased for its use. At the same time 
with this removal the city board of education 
bought, for $30,000, the old college property, 
which comprised. l)esides the valuable building, 
an entire block, and located there the Jefferson 
public school. This was a judicious and op- 
portune purchase for the school interests of 
the city. It chanced to come at a time when 
the Jefferson school was required to be re- 
moved from Jefferson Square, to make way for 
the new court house, and there was secured 
to the school board a substantially built struc- 
ture, amply adapted to the purpose, with a 
larger surrounding of ground than any other 
of the eight city school houses, placed also in 
a quarter where it might not be easy in the 
future to obtain a sufficient amount of land so 
centrally and satisfactorily situated for educa- 
tional uses. 

Trade and business of eveiy kind continued 
more and more flourishing. About forty 
.steamboats ran regularly from St. Louis to 
Quincy, and passing here in the up river trade. 
During the free navigation period of ten 
nu»nths. which continued into December, with 
a brief suspension in the spring (an unusual 
occurrence), there were registered thirteen 
hundred and fifty steamboat landings, averag- 
ing about five arrivals each day. 

A statement compiled at the close of this 
year, which is prol)ably correct so far as it 
goes, but incomplete on account of many omis- 
sions, rates the annual export trade of the city 
as amounting to $l."2-t8,011. This professes to 
embrace all the values of product and manu- 
facture that had been sold and shipped away. 
Among the leading items therein cited were 
3.153 barrels of beef, 6,850 of cracker.s, 28,923 
of flour. 20.296 of whisky. 101 carriages, 594 
wagons. 5.092 stoves. 1.165 plows. 4,119 hides, 
8,039 bales of hay, 116 hogsheads of tallow, 
3,600 boxed candles, 430,000 feet lumber, 358,- 
Ot)0 laths and shingles, .$91,000 worth of cast- 
ings, engines, etc., 40,866 bushels of wheat, 
7L386 of corn and 137,299 of oats. At the 
same time another, like the above only partial 
statement of the business employments, repcn-ts 

3 steam flour and 2 steam saw mills. 2 distiller- 
ies, 25 steam engines in use, 6 machine shops, 

4 foundries, 1 cotton, 1 woolen, 1 wooden ware, 
1 flooring factory, 3 sash, 3 carriage, 3 large 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



147 



wliolesiile riiriiitiire factories and several 
smaller ones, 2 extensive wagon and plow fac- 
tories and 7 smaller ones. "2 planinn' mills, 5 
himhei- yards, 1 book-bindery, 2 liarihvare, (i 
iron and stove, 3 books and stationery. 4 di'u<; 
and over 200 retail stores, grocery, dry goods, 
etc., 2 banking houses, 18 clmi-ches, 2 daily and 
3 weekly English and 2 weekly (Jerman news- 
papers. The official valuation of city prop- 
erty for taxation, real and ]>ei'sonal. footed 
t2.h76MO. 

The old coni't house, the second one. built in 
183(3 on the east side of the square, was en- 
larged by having an extension attached to the 
rear, and, by an arrangement between the city 
and county, the fcu'mer obtained the use of one 
of the large lower rooms for a clei'k's office and 
co'.nicil ro(nn, which was thus occupied fiu' the 
following fourteen years. 

A charter for a bridge company was pro- 
cured at the legislative session of 1852-53, the 
incorporators being the directors of the N. C. 
R. R. and some other parties connected there- 
M-itli. Tlie re(|uirements of the charter were 
thiit the bridge shoidd be commem-ed within 
three and finished within six years. These 
time conditions were not complied with, but 
extensions of the charter were obtained and 
with some changes from the original plan, this 
enterprise was the origin of the present i-ail- 
road bridge, constructed some twclv(> or thir- 
teen years later. 

With the accession of the democratic jnirty 
at the national election in 1852 to administra- 
tive control of the country, there followed the 
usual changes among the federal officials. 
Austin Brooks, editor of the Herald, was made 
])ostmaster, supplanting Abraham J(nuis, who 
had held this office during the past four years. 
Another person, a partner of Mr. Brooks, had 
been booked for this place, but an unlucky busi- 
ness contretemps, coming to light, just on the 
eve of apjiointnu'iit. precluded the use of his 
nanu', and the office went to his j)artner. Also 
A. C. ilarsh. as Register, and Damon Ilouscr. 
as Receiver of the public land office, succccdeil 
Henry Asbury and H. V. Sullivan. There was 
a good deal of local special importance attached 
to the land otrice and to these positions. They 
had been, in earlier years, places of distinction 
aiul responsibility, and were at one time lai'gely 
lucrative; mainly so from the fees, the stat(>d 
salary being small, only .'j;400 per annum. Their 
value had been for some time past steadily 
shrinking, and their importance also, and the 
a])iioiiitees above named were the last to Imlil 
the offices, which eiuled with their term. 

The Quincy land district, established in 1831. 
eniliraccd the entire ^filitai-y Bounty Tr;icl, ;iii(l 



covei'cd the 5,3()!),()()() acres of public land lying 
between the ]\Iississipi)i and Illinois rivers, 
i-eaching as fai- noi'tli as the latitude of LaSalle 
and Rock Ishind. ,Moi-e than one-half of this, 
about 3,500,000 aci-es, was by congressional law 
reserved from general i)urchase, and specially 
set aside to be deeded as bounties to the soldiers 
in the war of 1812. Patents for these thus re- 
served lauds were i.ssned to the soldiers as early 
as 1815 and in the foui- oi- five following yeai's. 
The remaining unpatented lands were not of- 
fered fill' s:ilc until a long time later, a large 
portion of them being reserved for more thaii 
20 years. The cheapness of these bounty lands 
which could be bought from the soldier paten- 
tee: 160 acres for from .$10 or $15 to $30; or the 
state tax title for a still lower figure, while the 
government price for land was $2.00 and later 
$1.25 per acre, and their unsurpassed fertility, 
with the advantage of a location between and 
nearly bordered by two great navigable rivers, 
were tempting offerings to the adventurous emi- 
grants and to the sjjeculator, causing a flow of 
settlement towards this section far in advance 
of that received by any other part of Illinois; 
an immigration which continued when the re- 
mainder of the hitherto government land was 
thrown open to general entry. With the loca- 
tion in Quincy of the public land office, there 
naturally followed the establishment of the pri- 
vate land agencies, which represented the titles 
lo nearly all the unoccupied laiul in the bounty 
tract that had been granted to the soldiers. 
Hence every one desiring to purchase either 
public or private land had to apply personally 
or otherwise at Quincy. which, of course, thus 
became the sole land market center for this 
section of the state. Had Rnshville. which at 
that period (1831) was more i)oi)ulous than 
Quincy. and came near being preferred, or Pe- 
oria, which was about eqiuilly central so far 
as the location of the lands lay : had either of 
these been the point selected for the public laud 
office, one of the strongest factors in the early 
history of Quincy "s prominence and improve- 
ment would have been lost. Mo*it of the gov- 
ernment land had now, in 1853, passed into pri- 
vate owner.ship, and when, soon after, the gen- 
eral government donated to the states all the 
swamp lands, or those subject to overflow, so 
little was left in this district that it was no 
longer necessary to maintain the offices here, 
and they were removed to Springfield. 

Another federal office was created about this 
time. A bill was introdiu'cd into Congress in 
December, to nudvc Quincy a port of entry, 
which passed dui-ing the sessicni. The object 
was to convenience the railroad in its payments 
(HI the iriiii inipoilcd fi-oni England. Under the 



148 



PAST AND PKESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



operation of this law jshipinent could be made 
through direct to Quincy and here taken out of 
store, and the duties paid thereon from time to 
time in such amounts as the railroad company 
required. Several other cities on this great 
"inland sea" (as ^Ir. Calhoun, to evade his own 
opposition to internal imiu'ovements. termed the 
npper ilississippi), tliat were similarly inter- 
ested in railroad enterprises, were also about 
this time, made ports of entry, and continued 
such for a number of years, a good while after 
the chief reason for their establishment had 
passed away. The law relating to l-^uincy went 
into effect Feb. 2, 1854, and the appointment 
of surve.vor of the port was made soon after. 

At the November eleetimi. which this being 
the odd year, was only for county officei's. the 
democrats carried the county by the usual av- 
erage ma.joi'ity of about 200, electing W. H. 
Cather Coiuit.v Judge over Henry Asbury: Geo. 
W. Leech Count.v Clerk over B. 'SI. Prentiss, and 
J. H. Luce Treasurer over C. SI. Pomero.v. The 
city election, in April, was a mixed success for 
both parties. The whigs re-elected John Wood 
as ilayor over J. M. Pitman by 6 votes, and 
C. A. Savage to the council from the First ward 
by 3 majority. F. AVellman and S. Thayer, 
democrats, were elected in the Second and 
Third wards, and the general democratic ticket 
was successful. With the casting vote of the 
Mayor, the council continued the former whig 
ofifieials. 

A meeting of whigs was held on the 5th of 
May to consider the project of establishing a 
German whig newspaper. There were two Ger- 
man periodicals then jiublished, both of which 
were democratic. Mr. Wood proposed to pur- 
chase type, etc., for such a paper if the party 
would sustain it for tive years. The result was 
the establishment of the Tribune, which made 
its appearance on the first of November as an 
independent German weekl.v. It did not, how- 
ever, live out its time. The promised support 
failed within a year or two and after passing- 
through several changes of ownership and 
name, it became what is now the Germania. 
The Herald met with another of its frequent 
kaleidoscopes and suspended during the sum- 
mer, resuming ab(nit the first of August under 
the management of Wni. SI. Avise & Co. 

Railroad matters were progressing succe.ss- 
fully. iluch of the grading thfongh Adams 
comity, the heavier sections excepted, was well 
advanced toward completion, and before the 
close of the .vear the entire roadbed to Gales- 
burg was under contract. Some changes oc- 
curred in the management and in the directory, 
where a causeless inhai-mony temporarily oc- 
curred that was soon corrected. At the stock- 



holders' meeting in April the old directors were 
re-chosen with two additional members, these 
were Brooks and Joy, representatives of the 
northern interests in the road, which eventually 
obtained its control. W. H. Sidell became chief 
engineer, succeeding Newell, and continued as 
such until the final finish of the road to (iales- 
burg. Latei John Wood was made director in 
place of Pitman, resigned. 

At the 1852-53 session of the legislature an 
act had been obtained authorizing the city, by 
a popular vote, to subscribe sfilOO.OOO in addi- 
tion to what had been already given towards 
the construction of the railroad. The company 
matle application for this, and on the 23rd of 
June a iniblic meeting was called to consider 
the matter, at which it was manifest that the 
general feeling was favorable and earnest for 
the subscripti(ni. The president of the road re- 
ported in detail its condition and prospects, 
what had been done and was desii'ed and stated 
that an atlditional sum of .'^160,000 was required 
to completel,v grade, bridge and iron the road 
to Galesburg, and that the plan proposed was 
for (juincy to furnish .^100.000, ilcDonough 
county $25,000 (having already given $50,000), 
and that the remainder would be made up by 
private subscription, also then and at a snbse- 
(|uent meeting the I'ailroad directory pledged 
itself to take care of the interest on these 
b(mds. The city council promptl.v ordered an 
election to be held on the 30th of July for the 
jn-oposed subscription of $100,000 in eight per 
cent bonds. The project was carried by a 
neai-er approach to unanimity even than at the 
election over the first subscription two years 
before. Then the vote stood 1,074 to V.l Now 
there were 1,133 votes cost for anil but 4 
against. ^McDonough coiuity followed suit in 
August by a vote of 1.145 in favor of the $25,- 
000 subscrijttion with 285 opposed. There was 
also $30, 30(1 raised by personal snl)scription. 
this about c(unpleting the amount called for. 
This was the sec(nid of the five subscriptions, 
amounting to $1,100,000, which have mainly 
made the foundation of the present city debt, 
the amoinit above named having been increased 
greatly by the funding of long delinquent inter- 
est. Whatever may be said or thought now, 
then, or at any time as to the need or propriety 
of incurring these great debts, Quinc.v has for 
them its own sole responsibilit.v to bear, for it 
is a patent fact that each and all of these meas- 
ures were eagerly adopted, not onl.v with no 
shadow of dissent, but Avith an almost feverish 
enthusiasm of unanimity. To the $1,100,000 
cited above as the sum of Quinc.v 's investments 
in railroads may be added the city proportion 
of $220,000 voted by the county to the two 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



149 



roiiils I'liiiiiiiiy iKii'lli ;iiul siiiitli. which. hdWcvri-. 
became no ])ai't of the liabilities of (Juiiicy. and 
its bnfden has insensibly passed out of exist - 
(Mice. A special is.siie of bonds to the amount 
of ifilli.OOO was made dnrini;' this year to meet 
the i)ayment on bonds, about to mature and to 
take iij) and fund local iiidebtetlness. 

.\n utnisnal amount of expensive and pernui- 
nent pid)lic impi'ovement was done during this 
year. .Maine and Hampshire streets alonfi and 
eastwai'd from the public square were heavily 
macadamized, "a deep kneeded want (lurint>' 
the muddy mouths." was Quiney's V(>teran 
f)unster"s comment on the mattei-. Bi-oadway 
from Twelfth to the river was ]iut in passable, 
traveling' condition, by havinfj its unifoi-m 
grade established and the same nearly finished 
before the close of the year. This comprehen- 
sive and costly work, involvino' one of the larj;-- 
est exi)en(litures of the kind that the city had 
as yet made, was the cause of constant war in 
the council, fud annuiii' the newsjjapers through- 
out the summer and fall. atifordin<;- ])leuty of 
material for outside gossip and discussion, and 
often for merriment. It was the raciest, most 
honest contest of which the council had n\) to 
this time been the theater, not exhibiting the 
cavortings that sometimes have been shown 
thei'e in later years, but it was pugnacious and 
plucky anil long. The city fathers were evenly 
di\ided on this ifssue. The two from the north 
and one from the middle ward ardently urging 
it. while the two from the south ward and the 
other middle ward member were etpially tiint- 
like in their op]iosition. The project was brought 
forwai'd. passed through the cotnicil. because of 
the ab.senee from the city of one of the soutli 
wai'd aldermen, the contract was let and the 
grading connneneed. When, however, this ab- 
sentee aldei'nuin retui'ned and one of the n(U-th- 
sidei's hapiiened to be away, the boot changed 
legs; the order for grading was revoked, and 
payment on the work done suspended, until by 
anothei' chance and the idiseiice again ol' ;i 
south aldei'man and the return of the mn'tli 
nieiulici. thus giving back the original luajoi'lty. 
the im])rovement stai'ted up again: and so it 
see-sawed throughout the season, while all tlii' 
lime (Uie newsjiaper. to nuike c;i])ital ai;ainst 
the city ailministration. and because its special 
friend didn't get the contract, bitterly de- 
nounced the job. and the other paper, to sus- 
tain the administration and because its special 
friend had secui-ed the contract, fought for it 
with ecpial zeal. It was a furious warfare of 
words. The editors have gone, the conti-actors 
are dead, and two only of the aldermen are 
living, but the work went on to completion. It 
was, as before said, a very expensive and 
troublesome improvement to make. ap]ieariiiu' 



to many as unnecessary at tlu' tinu-. but was of 
re:il, essential importance. This half mile cut 
to the i-iver had been maile by the railroad com- 
pany twenty years before, and now much was 
needed to bring it into useful and available 
condition as a street. 

At Twelfth street it la.v some ten oi' twelve 
fe(>t below the present surface level, to which 
it was raised again at this time, and to e(pialize 
the grade westwarti re(piii-"d many changes to 
be made all along the line, some of them quite 
costly, but the result in creating the best thor- 
oughfare, in fact, the oidy easy graded street 
fi'((m the i-ivei' up into the city, more than war- 
ranted the i)i'opriety of the expenditui'e. 

The grade also of Maine street fi-om Eighth 
to Eighteenth streets, then the eastern limit of 
the city, was established and partial work 
begun thereon, yet many years passed before 
the street was brought to anything like its pres- 
ent handsome ajipearance. Settlement along 
it at this time was thin, thei'e being but three 
houses east of Twelfth. ;ind not many more 
west to Ninth, and the ground was unequal and 
broken. One now looking along that broad 
stretch of smooth bedded street, with its easy, 
graceful proporti(ni of rise and decline, cannot 
easily realize that its whole length from Ninth 
to Sixteenth, w'as at this period a billowy suc- 
cession of lean hazel ridges and abrupt ravines, 
as numerous as the crossing streets and at times 
almost impassable, changed a.s it now has be- 
come into the most beautiful thoroughfare of 
the city, which indeed can scarcely be elsewhere 
surpassed. 

Real estate valiH>s continued to advance as 
they had been steadily doing since 1840. ac- 
celerated by the active railroad movement and 
|iros|)ects. To the surprise of some, however. 
this increased rise a|i|)eared more in the eastern 
and central sections, than in the older portion 
of the city under th(> hill, where it might be 
presumed, from the location there of the dejiot, 
bidding the lailmad tn the river business, that 
the value of the gi'iiuml in that vicinity would 
be most enhanced. The resnlt was the reverse 
of this expectation. Soiii(> property there 
chan.aed owners, and at good advanced figures, 
but the trades made were mostly siieculative. 
and the ti.uures lower than relatively ruled else- 
where. The lot on the corner of Front and 
Broadway, which for some years had '"gone 
a-begging" at -l^'iO.OO per foot, was now sold for 
;|(.']0.flO, but this was somewhat exceptional, and 
generally the investments in this ((uarter re- 
munerated slowl.v. the truth being that there 
has always been a larger area of ground and 
frontage on the river than was needed for the 
business that required to be specially located 
there, and this fact holds good as much in later 



150 



PAST AND PKESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



daj's as it ahva.ys did in earlier times, when 
only "steamboat business" was transacted un- 
der the hill. 

The promise and stir of the coming railroad 
stimulated some other latent ideas of enter- 
prise into activity. There had been for many 
years a common "talk." usually just before a 
city election, of a jilank road across the river 
bottom opposite the city. One frequent candi- 
date for public honors, periodically used as his 
political shibboleth, "a town clock, free ferry 
and Missouri plank road." These of course 
amounted to nothing; after the election, but now 
with the .spirit of enterprise well aroused, and 
some rivalry excited, the first practical move- 
ments were made in the direction of the last 
above named and the most important of the 
three measures suggested. 

Hannibal, seeing that Quincy had an assured 
eastern and northern railroad connection, Avhile 
its own was at yet uncei-tain, had pushed out 
to good completion its plank and gravel road, 
reaching through the bottom lands to the Illi- 
nois blutit's so as to secure and retain all the 
trade of the southern part of Adams county. 
With an eye towards meeting this tlank move- 
ment from our little rival city, a Quincy com- 
pany projected and completed the survey of a 
line for a plank road to Burton, nine miles 
southeast of the city ; and what was of like but 
much greater importance, an elaborate exam- 
ination and survey with estimates of expense, 
Avas made by a skillful engineer, B. B. Went- 
worth, for about five miles of road, commencing 
at the ferry landing opposite the city and 
reaching almost by an air line to the north 
Fabius bridge at the foot of the ^lissouri bluft's. 
The estimates were, for a road of this charac- 
ter, raised above possible overflow, trestled 
bridges, etc.. .$19,246 for a single track with 
passings, and $21,656 for a double track. What 
has been expended since this time, thirty-four 
years ago, in endeavoring to make a road of 
this character, we do not know, but it is truth 
beyond question that if the above named 
amount, taken from what has been given rail- 
roads, vast as their benefits have been, had been 
devoted to the opening of these two enterprises, 
the gain to Quincy would have been verj- great 
and the railroads would not have missed it. 

The first formal workman's "strike" broke 
out this year among the laborers at the brick 
and lumber yards, who claimed an advance of 
pay from seventy-five cents to a dollar a day. 
They all quit work on the 20th of June and 
paraded the town in procession, preceded by 
music of drums and fife. This was then a nov- 
elty and attracted attention, resulting in the 
yielding of the employers to the demand. 



The military fever, which had been gradually 
dying out since the close of the Mexican and 
ilormon wars, broke out afresh this year with 
the organization of the Ouincy Blues, made up 
in part from the members of foi-mer like asso- 
ciations, under the captaincy of B. M. Prenti-ss, 
which soon became a somewhat noted and cred- 
itable company. A German company, the 
Rifles or Yagers, was at this time the only or- 
ganization of this character in the city, and 
it went out of existence soon after. The for- 
mation of the Blues brought out several other 
companies within the near following years. 
These were the "Quincy Artillery," under Cap- 
tain Austin Brooks, of the Herald, a dapper 
little "cadet company, composed of the boys 
from Root's High School, and commanded by 
Captain Martin Holmes, and the "City 
Guards," under Captain E. W. Godfrey, who 
as a captain in the 18th ^Missouri Infantry, was 
killed at the battle of Shiloh in 1862. Quincy 
thus had for several years four military organ- 
izations, but all of them disbandecl before 
1861, except the City Guards, which being then 
.still in prosperous condition, became the nu- 
cleus from which was formed the two compa- 
nies which volunteered in the spring of 1861 
to do duty in the war of the rebellion. Prior 
to this period. 1843. there had been at different 
times four military associations in the city, the 
first being the "Grays" in 1838-9, next the 
"Riflemen" in 1813. and shortly after the 
"^Montgomery (.iuards, "" an Irish company, and 
the Germany company of Captain Delabar be- 
fore mentioned. The "Riflemen" and "Mont- 
gomery^ Guards" enlisted in the Mexican war. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



1854. 

ICE PACKING BECOMES A BUSIXE.SS. WIDTH OF 
THE RIVER 3.960 FEET. THE.^TIIE STARTED. 
AM.A.TErR .A.CTORS. HIGH SCHOOL. NEBRASKA 
BILL. POLITICAL CH.-VNGES. DATUM FOR 
STREET rjRADES FIXED. MOULTON'S ADDI- 
TIO.N. SWAMP LANDS SOLD. GAS COMPANY 
ST.\RTED. FIRST LOCOMOTIVE BROUGHT TO 
QUINCY. A HOT SUMMER. DISTILLERY 

BURNED. QUINCY C.\DETS. 

The winter of 1853-54 was generally pleas- 
ant, not marked by anyextreme degree of tem- 
perature, although the snowfall was unusually 
large. The staple business of the season kept 
up with former years, about 22,000 hogs being 
packed, which was a fair average product. A 
new branch of business began about this time, 
rather light at first, but one that has since rap- 
idly increased and grown to a place among the 
leading industries of the city. This was ice 
packing, heretofore altogether a private aft'air. 
which now, however, commenced as a regular 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



151 



business. 'I'ln- lirst ici' Ikhiscs I'nr piirkini;'. 
preserviiiu' iiiid scllinL; 1lir(Mi;:li(iiit tin- city, 
were built this yc:ii\ uw a small scjile c(>iii|)ar('(l 
witb wliat it has since liecoiiie. but I'lilly up to 
the wants of the place at the tinic. I. Clevc- 
laiicl, and soon aftci- .1. ('oh\ woe the pioneers 
in this lini', packiii;,:- not a yi-eat deal, but 
enough for local distribution during the fol- 
lowing summer. The I'ivei- on the 23rd of Feb- 
ruary, at a v<My high stage of water, with 
flooded banks, uni'ettei'ed itself from winter 
thraldom, and thence on throughout the suc- 
ceeding winter, 1854-1855, T'emained entirely 
free from ice. Navigation was eas.v and la.sted 
long by reason of this early opening, and the 
nearly full continuance of the spring rise as 
late as the middle of November, All through 
the summer the river was high. Twenty-one 
feet above low water mark was the gauge given 
of the highest water, and this uiuisual altitude 
long sustained gave a greater average volume 
of flow through the season than had been often 
before known. 

A question much mooted then, and pcrha[)S 
since, as to what is the exact width of the 
I\lississippi at this jioint, was referred to some 
of the railroad engineers, who settled it by a 
careful measurement made over the ice in 
February, which had never been thus done be- 
fore. Starting from low water mark, at the 
foot of Vermont street, and running on an 
exact east and west i)arallel to a point about 
200 feet south of the ferry landing on the ilis- 
souri shore gave a distance of 3,960 feet, al- 
most an even three-quarters of a mile. Since 
this measurement was made, on account of en- 
ci-oachments from the east side of the river by 
the extension of the public landing, and per- 
haps some changes in the banks (Ui the opi)osite 
shore, the above figures may have slightly 
varied. 

A special session of the legislature having 
been called by the Governor to meet on the 
9th of FebrTuiry. an election was ordered to be 
held on the 6th of this month to fill vacancies 
made liy the resigiuition of John Wood, senator 
from the Adams aiul Pike disti'ict. and of J. JI. 
Pitman and John C. Moses, representatives 
from Adams and Brown. The democrats in 
convention nominated for senator Solomon 
Parsons of Pike, and for i-epresentatives Wm. 
II. Peinieson and Hiram Boyle of Adams, while 
the whigs brcnight out John ]\Icroy of Adams 
for the senatorship, and J. W. Singleton of 
Brown and John C. Cox of Adams as their can- 
didates for the lower house. The election re- 
sulted in the success of Parsons. Singleton and 
Boyle. There was a light vote cast, and the 
result was effected by local influences and the 
politic indifference felt by the whigs in regard 



to the election. The wIml; candidates, with the 
exception ol' Singleton, and also all the candi- 
dates from the city, were in some parts of 
the county and in iirown overlooked altogether 
in some pi'ecincts secui'ing not a single vote, 
and in Brown the Singleton vote was about 
three times the total of all the others combined. 

Another special election was held on the 4th 
of A|iril for a county clerk to succeed George 

\V. Li h. who had been chosen to this place at 

the .November electit)n in 1853. and died three 
nu)nths after, on th(> 9th of Febi'uary. Leech 
was a popular and skillful official, familiar 
with the routine ami history of public business 
with which he had been a.ssociated from boy- 
hood, belonging to oiu' of those hereditary 
office-holding families, of which the country 
has so nuiny. His early death was a jniblic 
loss. At this election John Field, whig, was 
chosen over Wash. Wren, the late democratic 
shei-itf, by nearly 300 majority. 

Changes were made in the legislative dis- 
tricts by the appr)rtionment law of 1854. Un- 
der this Avlams county was sejiarated from 
Pike, and with Brown nuide a senatorial dis- 
trict, and also Adams became a single repre- 
sentative district, entitled to two members, in- 
stead of as before, having three members in 
connection with Brown connty. There was 
also enacted af this session a law which be- 
came a part of the city charter, providing for 
the election of two police magistrates for the 
city and relieving the mayor from judicial du- 
ties. 

The first attempt at an established theater 
dates from this time. There had been as early 
as 1839 a "Thespian" organization, composed 
of a goodly number of the youngsters of the 
town, who fitted up a little hall on Third sti'eef, 
between Hampshire and Maine, and with well 
prepared scenery and costumes, gave exhibi- 
tions to their own satisfaction, and which af- 
forded special pleasure and amusement to the 
people of the town. This association c(uitinued 
for several years. Among its memliers. and 
we believe the only ones now living and resi- 
dent of Quincy, were J. T. Baker. Loi'enzo 
Bull. T. G. F. Hunt. Th(uiias Brougham and 
Tfhenui Taylor. A traveling troupe would oc- 
casionally come along and make use of the 
Thespian Hall, with its scenei-y. etc.. but the 
.stay of such was bi-ief. fhaf of ^Iclnfyre and 
Jefferson, father of the noted comedian, who 
performed here f(n' several weeks in 1843. be- 
ing the longest. Nothing, however, like a per- 
manent theater, with its own professional com- 
pany, was idanned imtil in the wintei* of 1853- 
54. Geo. J. Adams then began a series of 
"dranuitic (Exhibitions" and lectures on elocu- 
tion, in the Danake Hall on !\raine street be- 



152 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



tween Fourth and Fifth. Adani.s. "Crazy 
Adams." as he was called by some on aeeount 
of his eccentric actions, was a very bright man. 
who had practiced at almost everything' — cler- 
gyman, lecturer, .Mormon missionary and apos- 
tle — and was withal, an actor of far more than 
average capacity and reputation. His troupe 
was composed of students from his class in elo- 
cution, with an occasional aid from some wan- 
dering actors, and the exhibitions were reason- 
ably successful, lasting oft' and on for two or 
three years. During the time when he was 
managing these exhibitions. Thomas Duff, his 
brother-in-law, and wife, who had been per- 
forming in the east, came from New York and 
made their first appearance. Later, about 
1857, when Adams dropped the management of 
this occasional theater, as it might be called. 
Dnif, with a full company, came, and since that 
period carried on a theater from time to time, 
with occasional suspensions, for a good many 
years. 

The act of Congress, creating a "port of en- 
try" at Quincy, was approved liy the President 
on the 2nd of January, and in ilarch Thomas 
C Beinies((n was appointed and confirmed as 
"port inspector." About twenty-five years 
later this office, with several other of the ports 
on the Mississippi, was abolished. 

All earnest eifort was made during the early 
part of this year to engraft a city high school 
upon the existing public school system, and a 
very large meeting was held at the court house 
on the -'^rd of January in advocacy of this 
project. Following on this a lengthy petition 
was presented to the council at the February 
meeting, and referred to a committee com- 
posed of three of the aldermen and the super- 
intendent of public schools. At the March 
meeting the majority of this committee re- 
ported unfavorably, but recommended the 
building of more school houses for education in 
the common grades, which report was adopted 
by the council, and at the same session a reso- 
lution was passed to submit to the voters at the 
next charter election, the question of a high 
school, and of obtaining from the legislature 
the authority to levy an additional tax for its 
support. The matter made much excitement 
in and out of the council. It became at last a 
partisan question, and entering into the April 
city electioii, was there overwhelmingly voted 
down and eariied down with it the political 
supremacy of the whigs in the council. The 
immediate result of the agitation was the erec- 
tion of another school house, the Webster 
school, at the corner of Maine and Twelfth, 
which was projected and commenced during 
the latter part of the year, and was at the time 



of its construction, much the most complete edi- 
fice of the kind in the city. An appropriation 
was made at this time of .*|<25.(t(l a ((uarter tov 
the education of colored children, provided 
that the superintendent thought it expedient; 
but it eft'ected nothing. 

This was what Greely was wont to call an 
"otf year in polities." no presidential election 
occurring, yet it was a period of moi'e political 
excitement and radical changes, attended with 
an unusual degree of personal bitterness, than 
any other since the nation was formed. That 
political Pandora's box, the Nebraska bill, 
shattered for a time the .supremacy which the 
democratic party, organized s(nne twenty-five 
years earlier, had during nearly all the subse- 
(juent time strongly maintained, sevei'ing from 
it a large portion of its best materi.d. This, 
with the great bulk of the now dissolving whig 
party, formed a new association, to soon secure 
possession of the national administration for a 
period about equal to that of its predecessor. 
With the introduction of this question to public 
thought. (Quincy. like the rest of the country, 
was aroused at once. The measure and the ac- 
tions and motives of prominent men became 
the current constant topic of talk, and were 
discussed, disputed denounced and defended in 
every way and everywhere. 

The general local sentiment was at first un- 
favoral)le in the Nebraska bill, but there was 
also a strong sentiment of confidence and pride 
towards the popular senator who was the 
father of this measure and whose first entrance 
upon his eminent national career was from this 
city, his former home. Early in February, 
therefore, a public meeting was called by the 
friends of Senator Douglas to approve of his 
action and endorse the bill. W. H. Cather, 
county judge, presided, and J. H. Luce, was 
secretary. The meeting was small and inde- 
cisive, and was adjourned to the 28th, when 
the assemblage was very large. The proceed- 
ings were exciting and amusing. All the ex- 
treme anti-slavery men of the city, who had 
hi'retof<'re counted but lightly in political af- 
fairs, being very few in numbers but very earn- 
est naturally on an issue like this, fioated to 
the front and did most of the battling, and the 
resolutions of approval were voted down. Sev- 
eral other meetings were held with the same 
general result, and on the 3rd of April, at a 
meeting with R. S. Benneson, a former demo- 
crat, as president, and Dr. Ralston, whig, sec- 
retary, wliei'e the same stirring scenes of strife 
oi'i-nrred, a resolution condemnatory to the bill 
and charging upon the senator the responsibil- 
ity for the agitation of the slavery question, 
was passed by a vote of about three to one. 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



153 



'I'lic scpai'jit iim ciiiitiiiiU'd, ,-iii(l li\ tin' tiinc II11' 
I'mII caniiKiii;-!! (■oiiuneiu'ed, partisan linrs wci'c 
distinctly di-awn on the question <il' tiic Ne- 
braska bill, wliii-h liecame in fad the oidy issue 
which was discussed at the November election. 

'I'he I'ity election in April partook of tlii.s 
stronir i)ai'tisan and jjersonal feeliny and was 
liotly <'ontested. The whius. wlio had nsuidly 
a i'elial>li' iiiajoiity in two wai-ils. tlnni^h 
siiii'htly in a minoi'ity in the wliole city, I'enoni- 
inated for mayor John Wood, with J. C. Rer- 
naid. E. K. Stone and N. Fla^>r for aldermen; 
and .1. M. Pitman, who had twice \uisuccess- 
fiUly contested with Wood foi- the mayoralty, 
was aii'ain |)laced at the head of the demo- 
ri'iilic ticket, with \V. I). .Moi'Lian. .1. 15. .Merss- 
iiian and -las. Arthni' as cjindidatcs lor the 
<-onncil. The hii;'li school (|nestion. which was 
publicly voted ujion at this same time ami the 
l)roposition to raise a special tax foi" the sup- 
poit of the school or two schools, had been in- 
judiciously pi-essed, and beaten in the council, 
public sentiment not having ripened for it as 
yet. It now became a prominent featui-e iu 
the election and determined the result. Pit- 
man was returned as elected by one vote, and 
two of the wbi^' aldermen by like slender fig- 
ures, Bernard by a majority of one and Flairg 
three. The two democratic police magistrates, 
A. Wood and T. Monroe, were al.so successful 
over T. II. Brougham and J. E. Dunn. This 
was the first year when police magisti-ates were 
chosen. The vote, 1,335. was the largest ever 
cast in the city, exceeding that of the previous 
presidcMitial election. 

Right after this hard fought election, and 
peniling the formation of the new city adminis- 
tration, there sprang up a stubborn political 
strife in the council. The existing board was 
composed of two democrats ami four whigs, 
one of the latter, Dorman. being absent, mak- 
ing it stand three to two without the mayor. 
When the board convened to count in and (pial- 
ify the members-elect, Wood, after the vote 
was declared, filed a notice of C(uitest against 
Pitman's election and vacatcil the chaii'. .\l- 
derman Thayei' was made temporary chairman 
and thereupon the three whig aldermen de- 
manded that the newly elected aldei'men, whose 
claims were not contested, .should be first (pial- 
ified and the question of right to the mayoralty 
be afterward considered. The two democrats 
refused to recognize this line of procedure, and 
by leaving the Inuise bioke the qiuu-nni. This 
rather farcical performance was continued at 
several meetings for nearly a fortnight, caus- 
ing a sus|)ension of general busiiu'ss. initil 
linally Wood witlidrew his demand and the 
IH'W board was oruanized. Tt then, with a 



party majority through the casting vote of 
the mayor, changed the political character of 
all the appointive ofiices. Since this period, 
1854, with one exception, in 1859, although an 
occasional opposition mayor has been elected, 
the democratic iiarty has maintained an un- 
bi'oken majority and conti'ol in the city eoinici! 
for thirty-three years. 

An important measui'e was adopted by this 
ciiuncil tending to better define the hitherto 
doubtful system of city levels. The earliest 
lornud step in this direction was a resolution 
or ordinance some years before that the "door 
sill of Holmes" stoi'e at the coi'ner of Front and 
Hampshire." should be the regulation base. 
l?ut the stoic had been I'ebuilt. the door sill 
changed, antl Holmes had moved away, so that 
urade calculations had now to be made from 
the secondary stamlards, involving much un- 
certainty, and beside this the regulation base 
above named was m>t itself fixed upon a deter- 
minate permanent plane. Now the council, 
with low water mark as a basis, established 
"the 'bench mark' on Delaliar's house at the 
corner of Spring and Front streets, 20 31-100 
feet above low water mark, as the governing 
point for city grades." This well devised i)lan 
was still defective so long as it dependetl on 
"Delabar's house" for the "bench mark." A 
few years later it was iiripi'(]\cd and carried to 
completion by the pi'cseut excellent sy.stem, 
which with elaborate and accurate calculation 
and measurements, established a base or datum 
plane 200 feet below low water mark, from 
wliicdi all gr^ules are to be computed, and makes 
at the Fi-anklin school house, "a table-stone for 
city levels" 230 feet above the river base, Avith 
monumental stones, corresponding to this table 
stone, at the center all the street intersections. 

A city census, ordered by the coimcil to as- 
cei'tain the number and locality of the school 
cliildi'en to be provitled f(n', on the 1st of June, 
icported 5,878 undei' 20 years of age, and the 
total population of the city at 10,977, of which 
11)1) were i-esidciit in East Quincy. as that jior- 
tion of the city lying east of Twenty-foui'th 
street and not yet attached, was called. It was 
generally thought that this figure. 10,977, was 
a good deal too low. The valuation of city 
property of all kinils by the official assessment, 
liased on a low standard of about one-third the 
actual value, as were all tax vahuitions at this 
time, was returned as $2,076,360.86. 

Propeity jji'ices continued to advance as they 
had been (loing for several years. A good 
deal of innuigi-ation flowed into the city and 
the surrounding section, and largely increased 
business of all kinds, and more extensive stocks 
of merchandise a'ave evidence of prosperity. 



154 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



Many transfers of real estate were made at 
good profit figures. The largest land sale that 
had yet taken place in connection with Quincy. 
larger, indeed, than any since, was the sale at 
auction in December of the 160 acres Mng in 
the northeast part of the city between Eigh- 
teenth and Twenty-fourth and Broadway and 
Chestnut streets, now known as Moulton"s ad- 
dition. The histoin- of this tract and its enor- 
mous inei'ease in value . passing unbroken 
through but three transfers from its first 
owner, is curious enough to detail. 

It was patented in 1818 to Paul Barnard as 
bounty for services in the war of 1S12. The 
same year, by conveyance made on the back of 
the parchment patent, which I have befoi'e me. 
it was sold by the soldier for ^53. Thirty 
years after, in 1848. it was again sold for 
$6,400 — $40 per acre. In December of this 
year. 1854, it was platted into nine blocks and 
eighty-two lots, each lot containing from one 
to two acres, the subtraction of the .streets 
leaving about 130 acres to be sold. It realized 
at this sale about .$45,000. or an average of 
$350 per aci"e. The lot on the northeast cor- 
ner, a little less than two acres, brought $800. 
and a similar sized lot on the southwest corner 
for $1,250. So great an advance in the value 
of a single piece of property, passing through 
so few owners" hands, is rarely found. 

Nearly at the same time with the before- 
mentioned sale of the '"iloulton" or "Skiddy 
cjuarter," which last was the name it had borne 
for thiz'ty years, there was another extensive 
land auction which attracted local attention 
and was profitable to some. This was the sale 
of all the remaining swamp or overflowed lands 
in Adams comity, that had. prior to 1850. been 
the property of the general government. Con- 
gress in 1850 donated to the states all such 
lands as lay within their respective boundaries. 
Illinois relinquished in 1852 her interest in 
these lands to the counties where the same 
were located. The Adams county court or- 
dered a sale to be made on December 4th. 
1854. of its lands, amounting to over 25.000 
acres, which realized to the county treasui-y 
about $12,000. All the unentered land, includ- 
ing the islands east of the river channel, the 
low bottom land between the river and the 
bluff, the lakes, among them the great Lima 
lake or Lake Paponsie. as it was originally 
called, covering over three thousand acres: 
every foot of ground, in fact, that was at all 
subject to even occasional overflow, was em- 
braced in this sale. IMucli of it was or seemed 
to be worthless, and brought not over ten cents 
per acre, but again a great deal of it was of 
special value and there offered an opportune 
chance for profitable purchase, of which shrewd 



speculators who were posted and knew what to 
buy. availed themselves. 

The first Adams county agricultural fair was 
held on October 18th and 19th of this year. 
It had been pro.jected with a good deal of en- 
thusiasm and imity in the fall of 1853, and 
though a crude aft'air. in some respects, was a 
success. It exhibited on a piece of vacant 
tzround a little north of Broadway, between 
Sixth and Eighth streets. The enclosure was 
made by an irregular sort of fence or barrier, 
formed by piles of fallen trees and brushwood, 
looking much like a military abatis, and sen- 
tried all along on the inside by the committee 
men to keep out the boys. The attendance and 
display, both from the city and county, was 
good, and the institution hence onward for sev- 
eral years was an ob.ject of general interest and 
advantage. I'nfortunate .jealousies or misun- 
derstandings in later years broke it do^vn. and 
the supporting interests leaving Quincy located 
near the center of the county, establishing 
there a fair which has been a steady success, 
representing, however, more of the county 
than of the city elements of inchistry. 

The ]\Iethodist seminary was now finished 
and opened to students. It was somewhat suc- 
cessful, but laden from the start with financial 
embarrassments, from which it took many years 
to receive relief. The fine building in which 
it began its career was eventualy sold to the 
city for a public school, and the Chaddock col- 
lege, as it is now called, in honor of one of its 
donors, was removed to the present site at the 
corner of Twelfth and State streets. The Cen- 
tre Congregational church, at the corner of 
Jersey and Fourth streets, the neatest building 
of the kind as yet constructed in the city, built 
Ijy a seceding portion of the First Congrega- 
tional church society, was finished and dedi- 
cated. 

The most notable and commemorative occa- 
sion of the year and literally the most shining 
event, was the completion of the gas works, 
and the first lighting up of the city on Decem- 
ber 1st. This was as great a gala day. or 
night, rather, as Quincy had as yet known, and 
was signalized by a general tiirning on of the 
gas in all the street lamps and private houses, 
and a general turning out of all the people into 
the streets to see how the city and themselves 
looked, and also by a gay evening banquet at 
the Quincy House. The gas company had ob- 
tained, two years before from the state legis- 
lature, a perpetiial charter, giving it the exclu- 
sive right for twenty-five years to the use of 
the streets for furnishing light to the public 
and to private parties, and had concluded a 
contract with the city, following the terms of 
the charter, for twentv-five vears. It now 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



155 



sluiiic Dili with its well (■(niipliMril wncks. wilh 
a laid line ui tln'cc mid ;i li.iH' miles of pipe 
through the best sellled pari of the city aud 
sixty-five street lamps erected and ready for 
instant use. with provisional arrangements 
completed between the company and the city, 
for their lighting and inainteiumce. It is due 
to fact and liistory to say that the contract was 
a mutually successful one. advantageous to all 
the parties. L'nder Jutlicious and faithful man- 
agement in its earlier starting, the company has 
also well lighted the city, and has always re- 
ceived, almost from the very commencement, a 
remuiu-rative retni'n to itself. 

Besides this well-remembered occasion of the 
introduction of gas there was now the advent 
of other "first things" to be tabled in the rec- 
ord of this year, and these, though unattended 
by demonsti-ations like that which looked upon 
the iii'st lighting up of the city, were ecjually 
events of puljlic imixirtance and ;ittraction. and 
their dates are notable as initi;d ]»oints in the 
advancing movements of Quincy. On the 12th 
of March two small locomotives (as railroad 
engines used to be called), reached here, 
brought by barge from Chicago through the 
canal ;iiid tlown the Illinois river. Crowds 
gathered, of course, to see the new comers, but 
it was not until Sept. 12th that one of them. 
the Varnnm, was put in working order and 
placed on the track to assist in the construc- 
tion of the road. This, the pioneer engine, had 
a goodly crowd of gazers to witness its start. 
It had gotten the name of Baruum from the 
anti-railroad men. for there were a few croak- 
ers even in those days, who saw it l.ying on the 
landing unused for six months and dubbed it 
after the great prince of humbugs. On May 
.'itli tlie fir.st shipment of railroad inui, lOd 
tons, arrived, and May 29th the first rail was 
laid. All these occurrences, though unmarked 
by fornudity. drew special attention, from the 
universal interest that was felt in regard to the 
railroad. Some jarring matters in the railroad 
directory brought about the resignation of .1. 
M. Pitman and the elect imi of John Wood as 
liis successor, anil the resignation of John Field, 
who had been elected county clerk, was sup- 
plied by \\\o selection as secretary of .lulin C. 
Cox. 

Final tinish was made towards the certain 
(•(unpletion of the railroad both north and east 
by the vote of Bi'own county pledging a sub- 
scription of .-{^IflO.dOO to the eastern branch from 
Camp Point to .Meredosia. This was first ef- 
fected through the intltience of private parties, 
who,se public spirit had taken hold of the 
pro.iect. No chartered railroad company thei'e 
then existed. There was not tluMi as there is 
now, a general incoi'poratioii law authorizing 



corpoi'ate organization at any time in tbe in- 
terim of legislative sessions, anil it was two 
yeais hiler that the parties who built the road 
through Blown ciuuity secured a charter at 
the session of l.S.")*)-")?. against a factious oppo- 
sition. The first election in Brown for this 
.■i^lOO.dOO s\d)scription failed. The vote was 
.")2.') for to 20G against, but the terms under 
which the electiiui was held reipiired that the 
vote in favor of the project should be equal 
to two-thirds of the vote cast at the last general 
election. It failed by seven votes, through 
over-confidence and inattention. At a second 
election held a few weeks later it was carried 
by a most decisive vote, there being scarcely 
any o|)position. 

The summer was extremely hot. the liottest 
evei- known, as the oldest inhabitants always 
say. The thei'mometer rated on July 17th at 
105. and six days diu'ing the month showed a 
degree over lOO. with a monthly average of !)3. 
really an extraordinary contiiuiance of heat. 
With this was also much sickness. The cholera 
maile a slight visitation, but only some half a 
dozen cases occurred in the city, while near 
around and in the coiuity there were a good 
many more cases. 

Some notable changes occurred among the 
newspai>er establishments, always objects of 
]iiiblic interest. The Patriot, published by 
Warren & Gibson, edited by the latter and later 
by D. S. ^lorrison, became a tri-weekly on the 
Kith of September. II. V. Sidlivan, the first 
])ublisher of the Quincy "Whig, with which he 
liail sidjse(|uently been always connected, sold 
his interest therein to Henry Young, and nuide 
prej)aration for establishing another paper. 
This, the Republican, he brought out in part- 
nership with F. A. Dallam in the following 
year, 18.1.5. There were at this time four estab- 
lished journals in the city, the Herald, Coiu'ier 
(German), Whig and Patriot. The first two 
were democratic, the Whig was whig and the 
Patriot independent and anti-slavery. 

The military mania was all-pervading this 
year. The Blues made their first parade, in 
creditable shai)e, on the 7th of January, and 
later in the seasan an artillery comi)any under 
the command of Austin Brooks, of the Herald, 
was organized, but did not turn out until the 
next year. 

I'roliably the most destructive fii'e that had 
as yet attacked the city, was on the 2nth of 
October, when Thayer's large distillery with 
many of its surroundings, were destroyed. The 
damage was estimated at over $.50,000. with lit- 
tle insiu'anee, a much greater figure than had 
footed the losses suffered at any former fire. 

Political excitement, here as all over the 
count rv, was intense and contiinious through- 



156 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAJIS COUNTY. 



out the whole year. That mad issue made by 
the repeal of the Missouri compromi.se, offering 
the entrance of slavery into the territories and 
its protection while there, absorbed all other 
questions of dispute, shattering old party as- 
sociations and creating a new line of political 
separation. The Nebraska bill and slaveiy ex- 
tension were the leading and almost only sub- 
jects of thought and discussion, resulting in the 
overthrow of the democratic party in the state, 
completely reversing the political conditions 
that had existed, unbroken, for twenty-five 
years. The operation was ditterent in several 
sections of the state. In the northern part, 
which had heretofore been decidedly denio- 
ei'atic, almost the entire whig party and a very 
large percentage of the democratic, miited in 
what was called the anti-Nebraska movement, 
from which sprang the republican party. In 
the central belt, where the whig element was 
stronger, the parties remained nearly the same : 
a few changes only being made from either 
side. In the southern section where were the 
great democratic majorities, with the exception 
of the locations wherein the (ierman vote lay. 
which now cut loose from the democratic party 
to which it had been almost solidly attached, 
the democrats as a whole and nearly all of the 
few whigs that were there, supported the re- 
peal of the compromise, thus leaving scarcely a 
nominal opposition in all the Egyptian part of 
the state. 

In Adams county and adjoining the political 
changes Avere few and very nearly offset each 
other. Wm. A. Richardson was renominated 
for congress at the democratic convention after 
a long and stubborn contest between several 
other aspirants, and Archibald Williams was 
brought out by the opposition. The other 
democratic candidates were, for state senator. 
"\Ym. H. Carlin : for representatives. J. ]M. Rud- 
dle and Eli Seehorn. and Wilson Lane for sher- 
iff. Opposed to these were Peter B. Garrett 
for the senate : for the house, H. V. Sullivan 
and Wm. B. Gooding, regular nominees, and 
Wm. G. Harrington, independent, and B. 'SI. 
Prentiss for sheriff. It was at this election 
that a small local cause brought about the elec- 
tion of the first republican V. S. senator from 
Illinois, which has already been mentioned in 
these sketches. 

A curious feature coimeeted with the organ- 
ization of this legislature, before alluded to. 
with its meagre majority of one. and being the 
first anti-democratic legislature in the state 
since the formation of that party, is worth men- 
tion. It is not local to Quiney or Adams 
county, but is a part of the general political 
history of the state and nation, and caused the 
Adams county representation in the general as- 



sembly to play a much more important part 
than it otherwise might have done. Abraham 
Lincoln and Stephen T. Logan, the two most 
eminent men in that section, were elected bj' 
several hundred nuijority as the anti-Nebraska 
members of the house from Sangamon comity, 
Mr. Lincoln very much against his wish, be- 
cause he was recognized as being the candidate 
of the party for election to the U. S. Senate. 
When it was ascertained that the anti-Nebraska 
party hatl the control of the legislature by a 
clear majority of at least three, ilr. Lincoln 
resigned, every one supposing that Sangamon 
comity would choose as his successor a man of 
the same political stamp. But the democrats 
laid low, and quietly organizing a "still hunt," 
run in a Mr. JIcDaniel, a very obscure man, 
and completely reversed the 600 or 700 nuijor- 
ity of the month before. This left the balance 
of strength so close that half a dozen anti- 
Nebraska members, formerly democrats, con- 
trolled the situation and they demanded that 
an anti-Douglas democrat, rather than an old 
whig, should be elected as the successor of 
(leneral Shields in the U. S. Senate. They suc- 
ceeded, and after several days' balloting, where 
ilr. Lincoln came very near success. Judge 
Trumbull was chosen by one vote more than 
the vote given to ^latteson, the Douglas can- 
didate. Had Mr. Lincoln not been a can- 
didate for the legislature, some other man like 
him in opinions would have been chosen with 
Judge Logan, and Mr. Lincoln would have 
been elected senator. Had he not resigned the 
result would have been the same. But if Abra- 
ham Lincoln had gone into the United States 
Senate in 1854, would he there have achieved 
that distinction which he afterward acquired, 
and would he four years later, in 1858. have 
fought the great debate with Douglas, which 
laid the foundation of his elevation to the pres- 
idency and eternal fame .' 

A private "High School" was opened by 
Prof. ;\I. T. Root on the 6th of October, which 
may pei'haps properly be called the fir.st of its 
kind, since it was the only institution claiming 
such a character that was sustained for any 
great length of time. This school was popidar 
and prospered mider the management of ilr. 
Root and of those who succeeded him. until 
about the time when, several years later, the 
public high school, of like .scope, and affording 
equal advantages, such a one as it had been 
misuccessfully proposed to establish in the 
s]u-ing of this year, was engrafted upon the 
city school system. 'Sir. Root, beside being an 
mnisually well educated instructor, and a de- 
cided though gentle disciplinarian, possessed 
that other valuable trait in a teacher of sym- 
pathetic association with his pupils. He added 



J'AST AND PRESEiNT OF ADAMS CorXTY. 



157 



to the attractions of his school by the organiza- 
tion of a military company from anion;;' his 
students. This, thr ■"(Juiticy Cadets." with 
its simple, lastefui uniform, and a drill profi- 
ciency c(iual to the aver;i<;e. soon became one 
of the po])ular instilutions of the city. One of 
its officers. Lieutenant Shipley, afterwards a 
lieutenant in the 27th Illinois Infantry, was the 
tirst connnissioned officei- from (^uincy who was 
killed in the civil war. at Heliiiinit. .Mn.. in 
1861. 

Ainitlicr ('ft'oi-t was made In establish a pulilic 
free school for colored children by an appinpri- 
ation of the council of $150 towards building 
a school house "whenever the property was 
bought and paid for." This project, like that 
j)roposed in the early ])art of the year, was a 
failin'i>. 

The NW'stminstcr clnn-cii. Dri-i'inber 24, 1853, 
re])rescnting the old school branch of the Pres- 
byterian church, with the Rev. Wm. ilcCandish 
as its pastor, began service in a small building 
on Sixth street between ilaine and Jersey. 
Soon after they erecteil a churi-h on Hampshire 
near Ninth, which they occu])icd until they re- 
united with the other Presbyterians aixuit 
thirty years later. 

There were at this time eighteen religious 
societies in Qnincy having churches for regu- 
lar worshi[). Of these, thirteen conducted 
services in English, viz. : Two Jlethodist Epis- 
copal, one Protestant Methodist, one Christian 
(or CamiibcUite). two Presbyterian (Old and 
New School), two Congregationalist, one Epis- 
copalian, one Unitarian, one Universalist and 
one Catholic: and five in German, two Evan- 
gelical, one Lutheran, one ^Methodist Episcopal, 
and one Catholic. The Catholic societies were 
by far the largest of any of these. Their in- 
crease in this section for a good many years 
had been rapid and extensive. A public state- 
ment made about this time reports the Catholic 
diocese of Quincy to embrace 52 churches, 39 
stations, with a church attendance of 42,000. 

I\ruch the most comiirehensive annual re- 
view of the city that had as yet a])peared was 
prepai'ed and published at the close of this 
year. It is too lengthy and detailed for repeti- 
tion here, though some of its principal state- 
ments may be shown. The .cross anuunit of 
business repin-ted displays a decided im-i-casc 
over any past year. The value of "agi'icul- 
tural exportu" was as rci-itcd, $1,171,258. 
Amontr the leadintr items scheduled were 48,000 
barrels of flour, valued at $312,000; of hav. 
1,325 tons, $17,225 : wheat, 22,294 bushels, $24.- 
633; oats. 192.839 bushels. $01,710; corn, 76,- 
416 bushels, .$32,190; to this last article the 
compiler says should be added the 178.514 
bushels that it took to make 624.800 srallons of 



whiskey, worth .$206,184. all (jf which was 
made and shipped from here. The total innn- 
licr 111' hogs packed was 23.000. an advance on 
the previous yeai', and the value of the manu- 
facture $296,444. Beef jiacking summed uj) a 
valiu' of $49,149. Shipments south wer(> made 
of 301.560 i)ounds of hides, valued at $15,078: 
62,200 boxes of soap, $15,500; 4,215 boxes of 
candh-s, $25,440; 3.000 barrels of crackers, $15,- 
1)0(1. Of brick 6,000,000 were manufactured, 
worth .$21,000. and marble and stone work to 
an equal amount was done. Cabinet work 
amdunted to $106,390. The cooper shops, 21 
in luunber. turned out 55,400 tiour. 10,750 pork 
and 14,550 whiskey barrels, and other work 
amounting to $63,362. The 15 wagon and plow 
shops and the 2 carriage factories reported a 
l)usine.ss of $179,315; 2 planing mills and 18 
carpenter shops $152.211 : 1 steam saw mill 
$50,000: 5 machine shops. $77,450; 4 foundries 
(2 of them stove), $165,520; 5 saddle and har- 
ness shops, $77,030: 5 lumber yards received 
5,000.000 feet of pine lumber worth $100,000, 
230 licensed .stores of all kinds are reported as 
transacting business to the extent of $1,279,500. 
The comjuler says in refei'cnce to the last 
amount above stated that he is disposed to 
consider it as po.ssibly .$200,000 too small, but 
that he had sedulously through his entii-e ex- 
amination, from fear of over-estimation, kept 
his figures down as much as possible. 

This statement of the leading industries of 
the city was compiled by a quaint, earnest 
old gentleman, now deceased, who was from 
very early times and for nearly half a century 
oiu' <if the notables of the place, and of whom 
antl his oddities a characteristic anecdote fol- 
lows. He was an excellent, benevolent nmn, 
defectively educated, but a singidar compound 
of shrewd intelligenec and eccentric action, a 
most ardent whig, and opposed to innovation 
of old theories, political, medical or anywise, 
having an especial distru.st of whatever new- 
fangled thing began with "anti" ov ended 
witli "isms." What the worthy cai)tain pre- 
cisely meant by hydrojiathic inventions, he 
only coidd explain. He considered some med- 
ical (luackery, or maybe a lurking pun on the 
sound of the fir.st syllable of the word hydro- 
[latliic. as the story below, one of a thousand 
such as mi.irht be tohl about him, illu.sti'atcs : 

.At a social gathering, where the captain was 
present, during the time, many years ago, when 
animal magnetism, mesmerism, spiritualism 
and such like perplexities were new. but per- 
vading the country, and as little iniderstood 
then as now, the subject of transcendentalism 
bci'amc a topic of talk. It was a new idea and, 
a strange word to the ca])tain, and kejit him 
unusuallv silent for awhile. "Transcendental- 



158 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



ism," •thought lie to himself for awhile, all in 
a puzzle. Part of this word sounded familiar, 
but altogether it was too long and too deep for 
him, when suddenly some expression used in 
the discussion threw at once a tiood of apparent 
light upon his mind. "Oh," said he, "I see 
what yoii're talking about; it's a religious 
fixin' it seems. I didn't know before Avhat 
trausdentalism meant. I tlionght it was some 
new f angled ism about the teeth ! ' ' And then 
he dived into the discussion as fearlessly, as 
learnedly, and no doubt as lucidly as any of 
the other disputants. The subject was one 
which calls for more tongue than sense ; and 
is well described by a satiric old Scotch i^hil- 
osopher as the fairest of all themes for con- 
trover.sy, "because, dyje see, it's an equal for 
baith parties, for the mon who talked didna 
ken what he meant, and the gude folk that 
listen dinna ken e'en all of his fool clatter." 

The unusual early spring flood, continuing 
throughout the summer, suddenly subsided in 
the late fall months, leaving an almost unpre- 
cedented low stage of water. On the middle of 
November thirty inches of water was reported 
in the river channel, and much floating ice thus 
early appeared. This shallow channel and ob- 
structing ice continued throughout the coming 
winter, but at no time did the river freeze fast. 
Boats with difficulty made occasional ti'ips 
from St. Louis to Keokuk all through the win- 
ter months. 

There was much financial distrust and biisi- 
ness embarrassment during this year all over 
the west, and especially in Illinois, growing out 
of the weakness of the state stock banking sys- 
tem. Illinois was flooded with bank paper se- 
cured by pledge of the uncertain and declining 
bonds of other states, and rivalry and competi- 
tion among the banks and brokei-s brought 
about some failures and created a general dis- 
trust towards all bank paper, yet the average 
prosperity eontiniied, and in Quincy especially 
so, making this year, 1854, the most hopeful 
period in all its history to date. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 
1855. 

THE BAT A PLACE FOR WINTERING STEAM- 
BOATS. VOTING ON A TEMPERANCE L.\W. 
SKINNER ELECTED JUDGE OP SUPREME 
COURT. SIBLEY ELECTED JUDGE OP CIR- 
CUIT COURT. FISCAL STATEMENT. STREET 
IMPROVEMENTS. HOSPITAL GROUNDS PUR- 
CHASED. R.\ILROAD IMPROVEMENTS. WOOD- 
LAND ORPHANS' HOME. QUINCY AS A PORT 
OF ENTRY. A CITY DIRECTORY. U. S. LAND 
OFFICE MOVED TO SPRIXr; FIELD. REVIEW 
OF ITS HISTORY. THE NEWSPAPERS. MILI- 
TARY ORGANIZ.\TION. PROSPERITY. 

Business during the winter season was good. 
The pork production, at that time tho best in- 



dex of business prosperity, amounted to $35,- 
000, which with the occasional steamboat ar- 
rivals, made activity and kept other occupa- 
tions active. The river continued to keep open 
throug'nout the early part of the winter, with 
more or less running ice, and an average of 
about tiiree feet in the channel. It shut down 
on this uncertain navigation by freezing solid on 
the 25th of January. The last steamer which 
left here on the 22nd of January was nearly ,a 
week on her passage to St. Louis. The river 
opened for the season on March 8th, and main- 
tained a good stage .of water until its fi'ial 
freeze on the 24th of December. Some half 
dozen large steamers were laid up for the win- 
ter, painted and repaired, in the "bay," which 
made cjuite an addition to the business appear- 
ance of the place. This making use of the 
"bay" for the wintering and repair of boats 
during the winter, had been for a few yeai's 
connnon, and after this time continued, but for 
some reason it has been abandoned. There is 
no place on the upper Mississippi so fitting in 
all respects as the Quincy Bay for "putting 
in ordinary" of steamboats in winter, and for 
several years it was not unusual to see half a 
dozen or more of No. 1 crafts there, among 
tliem sometimes, a large New Orleans steamer. 

Two important elections were held during 
the summer of this year, one of them general, 
embracing the entire state, and the other, 
which occurred on the same day, June 6th, con- 
fined to the central section, including Quincy, 
where it aroused especial interest and feeling. 
The first was over the ratification by popular 
vote, of a stringent temperance law which had 
been passed at the preceding session of the 
legislature, subject to approval of the people. 
The law was largely fashioned after the Maine 
liquor law, and the contest over it was quite 
stii'ring, producing an unusually large vote 
(about 170,000), an increase of more than 30,- 
000 on the state vote of the previous year. No 
political lines were drawn at this election, 
which was the first of the kind held in Illinois, 
but action on the law was strongly sectional, 
it receiving general support in the northern 
counties, while in the southern section it was 
as uniformly opposed. It failed of ratification 
by about 14,000 votes. Quincy gave against it 
a majority of 105, which was increased in the 
county to 978. 

The appointment of Judge Treat as United 
States district judge for southern Illinois made 
a vacancy in the supreme court of the state in 
the second district, and Judge Skinner, who 
had acceptably presided over the Adams and 
Hancock circuit, offered as a candidate for that 
position. Opposed to him were Stephen T. 
Logan of Sangamon, and Charles H. Constable 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



159 



of W'aliash fiiiinties. I'olitical t'ccliiiy was not 
eiilistetl ill this electidii. but like tlie election 
on the liquor question, local sentiment and 
preterence was active and controlling each 
aspirant receiviiis' the g'eneral vote of his own 
section oi" the district, and Judue Skinner was 
easily successful by about ll).t)()() majority. 
The contest for the circuit judgeship and a suc- 
cessor to -Jutlue Skinner, was like the above, 
a sort of triangular duel, and was attended 
with more of personal bitterness than often at- 
taches to a jHircly jiolitical contest. The Adams 
county bar. witii a desire to avoid political 
strife, had almost unanimously recommended 
for this position (ieorge Edmunds, an active 
and rising young lawyer of (^uincy. A i)cr- 
sonal hostility to Mr. Edmunds brought for- 
ward an opposition and some severe attacks, 
which were refuted, but operated upon the elec- 
tion. Resultant on this was the candidacy of 
Joseph Sibley and -John W. ilarsh of Hancock 
county, the first, as the nominee of a democratic 
convention, and the latter one of the oldest and 
most experienced lawyers of the state, sup- 
ported generall}' by the whigs of the district, 
such as had not committed themselves to the 
su[>port of ^Ir. Edmunds. It was a close and 
d(i\ibtfiil election, ending in the election of ]Mr. 
Sibley by a small majority. .ludge Sibley was 
three times re-chosen to this office, holding it 
for twenty-four years, the longest term of ju- 
dicial circuit service known in the state. 

The fall election for county officers excited 
but little interest. Three oflicials, treasurer, 
school superintendent and surveyor, only were 
to be chosen, and the democrats elected them 
all. At the city election in April J. M. Pitmau 
was the democratic candidate for re-election to 
the mayoralty, and was successful with the rest 
of the ticket by 250 majority over \Vm. B. Pow- 
ers, '■iiide])endent" candidate. This secured 
the democratic control of the council, which 
Avas continued through the three succeeding 
years, and no changes were made among the 
official representatives of the city. 

The annual "fiscal statement" of the city 
for the year ending April 1, IS.5.5, exhibited a 
more economical administration of the city af- 
fairs than that of the preceding year, when, as 
per this report, the exjienditiu'cs had exceeded 
the receipts by $-4, 174. 37. while by the showing 
of '54-55 the receipts amounted to $37,476.64 
and the expenditures to only $36,993.95. leav- 
ing a balance on hand of .$482.69. 

A very decided advance in poimlation was 
told by the state census taking during this sum- 
mer, 10.754 against 6.901 as returned by the na- 
tional een.sus in 1850, showing an increase of 
over 56 per cent within five years. An un- 
usual amount of substantial improvement also 



marks the rcciuds of tliis year. Jersey street, 
making now the seventh completed traversable 
track between the upper and the river section 
of the city, was graded from Third to Front 
street. .Maine street was macadamized from 
Fifth to Kighth and brought to a better level 
father east. Broadway ea.st of Wood, or 
Twelfth .street, as it now was called, was in- 
creased in width to 76 feet to correspond with 
its western width. Thirteenth nor Fourteenth 
street was opened from Jersey to Broadway. 
This opening was the first departure from the 
oi'igiiKil town plan wliii-li had heretofore been 
generally followed, of evenly bounded blocks 
24 rods square and streets 4 rods wide; a very 
judicious arrangement, neatly adapted to the 
system of the federal land surveys and to the 
road laws of the state. The innovation in the 
establishment of Fourteenth street by making 
a block of double the usual length from east to 
west has since been followed in some other ad- 
ditions in the eastern part of the city by leav- 
ing out each odd numbered street running 
north and south. It was growing out of this, 
and with the idea of regulating the future 
shaping of the city, that the council, however, 
not now excepting to this particular measure, 
made the retpiirenicnt. under the provisions of 
a state law to that effect, that all plots and 
plans for additi(ni to the city must before be- 
ing recorded obtain the approval of the city 
council. The chief idea in this ordinance be- 
ing to ensure that all streets, platted in the 
outer .sections of tlic city, shall conform in 
width and alignment to those already existing, 
even though they may not connect therewith. 
Orange street, since called Eighteenth, was 
opened from State street to Chestnut. This 
was on the line which had heretofore been the 
most eastern boundary of the city. A large 
addition was now made. .\t the January meet- 
ing of the council a new city charter was pro- 
posed and the may(U- authorized to proceed to 
Springfield and urge its passage through the 
legislature. The main feature in the new 
chai-tei' was the enlargement of the city area. 
It ]iroposed to about double the area of the 
city, making Twenty-fourth street the eastern 
and Locust and Harrison the northern and 
southern boundai-ies. The measure passed 
with some ojiposifion. and was much i-escnted 
by many parties, who, owning land near the 
city, were thus forced into citizenship against 
their wish and made to encounter increased 
taxation and responsibility for the large past 
and jirospective city debt. 

Orange street continued to be the eastern 
boundary of the city. The projiosed amend- 
ment to the charter for the purpose of enlarg- 
ing the city area, although it easily passed 



i6o 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



throiigli the (Miuucil. met with inueli oppusitiou 
ill the legislature, where the outside interests 
could make themselves heard, and it failed to 
become a law. Two years later, however, at 
the regular session, the same measure was in- 
troduced and passed in January, 1857, and at 
the same session, a month later, another amend- 
ment to the charter was passed adding to the 
city what was then known as East Quincy, an 
area of about eighty acres bounded l>y Broad- 
way and Thirtieth, an east and west line about 
on the extension of Jersey street taking in the 
old city cemetery, and Twenty-fourth streets. 
These lines, then made, have not since been 
changed and constitute the present bounds of 
the city. An order was made by the council 
that there should be prepared by the city engi- 
neer a complete plan of the city, showing the 
grades of all the streets and alleys, their di- 
mensions, with points of intersection defined 
and marked, and figures attached, which should 
be the official record of grades as uniformly 
established all over the city, the same to be 
finished within two years. This was a project 
like that which had been begun in the preced- 
ing year, but then only partially carried out. 
Before the two years' limit expired, the addi- 
tion to the city above mentioned was made and 
the work extended so as to comprehend its 
entire area, and this established system of sur- 
vey- and grades remains, with occasionally 
slight alterations such as the local interest 
seemed to require. A charter for Quincy water 
works was obtained from the legislature, but 
nothing resulted from it. Ten years later a 
charter for the same purpose passed the legis- 
lature, but did not receive the executive ap- 
jnvjval, and it was not nntil about ten years 
farther on that an individual enterprise, com- 
menced on a somewhat limited scale, perma- 
nently established for the city this essential 
improvement. Purchase was made by the city 
of John Wood, for $8,160 in eight year bonds, 
of what was then called the Hospital grounds 
(since used for that and other police imrposes), 
a tract of land of about eight acres lying west 
of Fifth street and south of and adjoining the 
Woodland cemetery. 

An important business arrangement was now 
concluded between the city and the railroad 
eompan.y. by which the latter obtained from 
the city permanent rights in portions of the 
public ground lielonging to the city, and trans- 
ferred as consideration to the city the owner- 
ship of several pieces of propert.v. mostly city 
lots along the river bank, which the railroad 
company had obtained by purchase, or had re- 
ceived in the form of subscription towards its 
construction. i\Iueh of the land which the rail- 
road company thus obtained and needed for its 



uses, that lying noi'th of Broadwa.v. was subject 
to overflow at a high stage of water, and the 
grade had to be raised several feet. On this 
the building of an engine house and machine 
shops, of stone, and a large frame freight depot 
was begun early in the fall and sufficiently com- 
pleted for nse early in the following year. 

A charter was obtained from the legislature 
in February for the Woodland Orphans' Home. 
This charity was projected in 1858. when fif- 
teen philanthropic citizens united for its estab- 
lishment, each one pledging -$100 towards the 
purchase of a ground site on which to found 
the enterprise. The land was bought for this 
amount, $1,500, of John Wood, being the block 
o^\-ned by the "Home" on Fifth street, east 
of the cemetery From this time the institu- 
tion has been successfully conducted, doing 
nuich good. It has secured a hold upon the 
general sympathies of all classes in the com- 
munity, causing it to become one of the most 
useful and popular among the public charities 
of the city. 

Among the many notable "first things" of 
the place, which are always curious, was the 
direct importation of foreign goods to Quincy, 
through the medium of no other custom house, 
tluis placing Quincy on a direct trading foot- 
ing with all the rest of the world, which is told 
thus: "The fir.st government duties on foreign 
merchandise received from any of our mer- 
chants by the collector of the port of Quincy, 
were paid a few days since by Jlessrs. L. & C. 
H. Bull, on cutlery and files imported by them 
from Sheffield, England. This house Has for 
some time past imported direct many of the 
goods of foreign manufacture required for 
their business, but before Quinc.v was created 
a port of delivery, the duties had been paid at 
the port of entry. New Orleans." 

The office had been established at Quincy 
about two years before, but it was to facilitate 
the importation of railroad iron, and only this 
class of freight had been received up to this 
period. According to the record, the above 
shipment and receipt was Quincy 's first private 
mercantile transaction with foreign countries. 

The very important exchange of property and 
rights between the city and the railroad com- 
pany, before mentioned as having been con- 
summated by the action of the council, has been 
so often a question of curiosity, and sometimes 
of legal controversy, that a detail of the prop- 
erty transferred, is here given. It was a well 
considered and thoroughly understood transac- 
tion at the time, supposed to exchange ecjual 
equities, permanent in their nature and mutu- 
ally advantageous. 

Fnder this agreement there was sold by the 
railroad company to the city, the river frac- 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



i6i 



tioiis i)f lots 8, 4 and 5. of block 16; 3, 5 ami tl, 
of block 25 ; the north 56 feet of river fraction 
of lot 3. block 26. beinj? 650 feet, and all the 
private trrouiid west of Front street, from the 
linblic iandintr to 56 feet south of York street, 
except I'iver fractions of lot 6, in block 16. and 
4 in 25. The railroad coinjjany released their 
former right to erect buildiny^s on Front street, 
south of Broadway, oi- to occupy the public 
land sDulh of ludfway bi'iween Vermont and 
llani|)shire, releasing' also all their rif^ht to 
Hi-oadway, east of Twelfth street, uidess tlicy 
hei'eafter had use for the same for a raili'oad ; 
and further releasing to the city the right to 
collect city M-harfage from their grounds, such 
as is collectible from the i)ublic landings, and 
further obligated themselves to fui-iiish a good 
road below Olive street, past their gi'ound. 
fronting thereon, till that street was opened, 
ami to ]iay all damages, which might be as- 
ses.sed for rights conveyed to the company. 

On the other hand the city sold to the rail- 
road company all of the public landing, north 
of a line extending west from the center of 
block 6: all of Front street north of a line 50 
feet south of Oak street and south of a line 
660 feet north of Pease's addition, all of Oak 
and Green, now Vine, streets west of Olive 
street, giving also the privilege of using Broad- 
way and Spring streets west of west line of 
Fiont street, but withoul llir right to erect 
buihlings thereon: of Fnint street south from 
50 feet south of Oak street to liroadway, except 
sidewalks. :ind of making two railroad tracks 
in and along that poi'tion of Front street south 
of the noi'th line of Broadway to center of said 
block 6. with scnne conditions as to the line of 
said tracks, etc. .\nd the city further agreed 
not to condemn any portion of the raili'oad 
l)ropci'ty for a public landing. 

The property and franchises conveyc<l by 
lliisc agreements thus vested severally in the 
cily and tiie Noi'thern Cross R. R. Co., and later 
on the absorption of this comjiany in the Chi- 
cago. Uiirlington & Quincy Raili-oad, all ol' 
these I'ights and obligations were ti-ansfei-red 
to this last named corpor.ition. 

A city directory was published this year b\- 
.7. '!'. Everhart. which was (|iiite a comprrlicii- 
sivc and complete woi'k. ri'ally ilii> lirsl nl' llic 
kind. There had been heretofore some small 
i.ssues of this character, but they were very in- 
complete and meaaer. bni'dly wdi-tliy nf 1lie 
luime. 

The second annual meeting of the Adams 
(^)unty Agricidtural Fair Association was held 
on the 26th of October and the two following 
days. It was a great advance on that of the 
preceding year, being a success, to which the 



cily and county iiulustrial interests of all kinds 
[dike conti-ibuted. and it attracted attention 
and attendance from all the surrounding sec- 
tion, both on this and the other side of the 
Irivei'. Afterward for a number of years the 
.\dams County Fair, with Onincy as its natural 
location, maintained this favoi'able prestige, 
each exposition, in its extensive and varied 
display, surp.issing that of the year before. It 
soon raidscd among the best of the Illinois 
comity fairs. Largely was this owing at first 
to the judicious inter-est bestowed ujjon it by 
the mainifacturing, mercantile and othei- active 
euterjjrises of the city. With the weakening 
of this support and the introduction of other 
less legitimate features for a fair, its location 
was subsequently ehangetl. 

Thei'e were the customary (dianges among 
the newspapers dni'ing this year. These, 
though often of but passing imi)ortance, are 
links in the chain of local recoi'd : since the 
newspaper history of a place is an essential 
portion of its complete history. It is curious 
to note the checkered career of journalism in 
(,)uincy. and its many ctninges. almost as fre- 
quent and pei'iodical as the return of the sea- 
sons. 

Of the two oldest and permanent journals 
the Herald, to the present date of writing, dur- 
ing a life of over fift.v years, has passed through 
about thirty changes of partners and owner- 
ship, and the Whig, three years its junior, has 
had during nearly the same length of time, 
about half as many, while among the many 
smaller journals, that is, such of them as lived 
long enoiigh to undergo a chauge of parents, 
the same conditions were connnon. 

The Herald had its partial change in owner- 
ship, thouiih its managemiMit remained the 
same. The Patriot ;ind Republican, established 
:is a weekl\' in 1854. came out on January 1st 
as the Daily l\e])nblican. published by Thos. 
(;ibson and D. S. Morrison. The latter as edi- 
tor soon became engaged in ;i jiolitical and per- 
sonal wrangle with Brooks of the Herald, from 
which gi'ew a sti'eet light and a law suit, the 
whole productive of nothing Init public annoy- 
ance and fees for lawyers. Qninc.v was made 
iKitoi'ious for many years by its own newspaper 
srnrrility, mueli to its dissatisfaction at home 
and tliscredit abiiia<l. The death of ^Ir. A. 
Roeslei'. a very liiLihly informed man. editor of 
the Ti'ibnne. a (icrman weekly, caused a change 
in thi' management and characlei' of this joni-- 
nal. It had been started in 1853 by an asso- 
ciation of whigs as a jiolitical paper, but had 
not met with much pecuniary fortune. It now 
passed into the |)ossession of Winters & Phief- 
fer, and subsecpiently through other hands, be- 



l62 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



coming the present Gerni;inia. In later j'ears 
the political character of the jjaper has been 
changed. lu the Whig, the death in June of 
Mr. Henry Young, one of its publishers, brought 
about a change there also. The interest owned 
by Mr. Young was ijurchased by V. Y. Ealston. 
Morton & Ralston who now for sometime pub- 
lislied the paper, a weekly and daily. Mr. Ral- 
ston was a young man of much energetic talent 
and possessed a special aptitude for journal- 
ism, in which he might have become distin- 
guished had he continued in the i^rofession. 
He abandoned it after a brief trial, began the 
practice of law with good success, removed to 
Macomb, 111., Avent into the army as a captain 
in the 16th Illinois Infantry, and died during 
the war. 

This was a great military year, the most 
warlike looking ijeriod that Quincy had ever 
yet known, or ever after knew, until the later 
well-remembered period when real war raged 
throughout the land. Two military companies, 
the Blues, Captain Prentiss, and the Yagers, 
Captain Delabar (the latter a German com- 
pany), had been in existence for some time. 
Three others now made their appearance. An 
artillery company was organized in June, of 
which Austin Brooks of the Herald was elected 
captain. He accepted the command, as he said, 
on the condition that the company would "turn 
out if required to enforce the fugitive slave 
law." A cadet company with M. V. D. Holmes 
as commander, composed of the students of ]\Ir. 
Root's school, was formed about the same time : 
the two making their first parade on the -tth 
of July, and later, in the fall, was organized 
the City Guards, Capt. E. W. Godfrey, turning 
out for the first time on the 19th of November. 
A batallion was formed from these companies, 
with I\Ia,jor J. R. Ilollowbusli as commander. 
Emulation among these several organizations 
made them of much interest and produced a 
high degree of military proficiency. A very 
imposing display was made on the ith of July. 
There was the iisual ceremonial observance of 
the day, greatly aided in effect by the large 
military force of the four Quincy companies 
and a visiting company from Keokuk. Notli- 
ing like it had ever before shown up in Quincy. 
It altogether put out the memories of ilormon 
war glory. 

There was a good deal of financial distrust 
and embarrassment prevalent at this time, ow- 
ing to excessive speculation and the large issue 
of uncertain money by the numerous western 
banks. Quincy was but slightly affected there- 
by. The suspension of the banking house of 
Page & Bacon, of St. Louis, and their close 
connection with Flagg & Savage, then the lead- 
ing bank of Quincy, caused some local uneasi- 



ness ; not sufficient, however, to seriously dis- 
furlj business. The firm in St. Louis soon re- 
sumed, but after a year or two went down 
finally, and the breaking of this great house 
had an infiueuee in causing the failure of the 
Quincy banking house, at a later day. 

The general business of the city continued 
prosperous, and increased at home and abroad 
much more than it had in any previous period. 
The railroad, which in the latter part of the 
year, was completed to Galesburg, making there 
a through connection to Chicago, had brought 
to Quincy from the counties north and east of 
Adams, associations and acquaintance which 
extended the trade of the city to a distance 
and into localities where it had heretofore been 
almo.st a stranger. And now commenced and 
has since continued, a diversion of business 
connection and travel, which for thirty years 
had entirely gone to. and eastward through. 
St. Limis, towards Chicago, drawn thither l)y 
the lessened distance from the eastern nuirkefs 
and the more rapid transit aft'oi'ded by rail 
than by the river. 

Substantial and tasteful improvement of 
every kind was unusually marked. The stone 
p]piscopal church, now the Cathedral at the 
corner of Ilaiupshire and Seventh streets, which 
had been several years in building, was com- 
pleted and occupied. Many of the best private 
residences of the city were erected at this time. 
It was what would have been called now a 
' ' boom year. ' ' One of the city papers pulilishes 
eai'ly in the year "as one of the evidences of the 
progress and prosperity of Quincy, that there 
are already contracts made for laying nearly 
ten million of brick in buildings to be erected 
in the city this season. The supply of brick 
is entirely inadequate to lueet the demand, 
(iood brick comnuuid a high price, say ^5 to 
$6 per thousand. All now made or in the kiln 
are engaged." 

The gas company, during this year greatly 
extended its mains, and set up from twenty- 
flve to thirty additional street light.s. The coal 
trade brought to the city by the railroad having 
reached the coal fields of McDonough e(uuity, 
now liecame almost at once an extensive line of 
business, cheapening the general price of fuel 
and affording coal to steamers, factories and 
private parties at rates greatly reduced from 
foi'mer figures. 

Values of real estate kept advancing both in 
and aroiuid the city. As a token of this, the 
IMauzey storehouse on the north side of the 
square was purchased in Octolier liy the Budde 
Bros., for .$4,500. The ground being under 
lease, did not sell with the building, but the 
privilesre passed of bviying it, 25 feet, for .^2,- 
000. This saiaie piece of ground sold some three 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



163 



ye;irs before, for .tl.dOii. In ihc siihm-lis uf the 
<-ity the M<lv;ince in prices w;is yet iiKii-c iii:ii-|<c(i. 
Whiit \\;]s kiinwn ;is I he '• IJuciia Vista" i-"ai-in. 
two and a half miles east of tlie eity, sold for 
){!')( 1.0(1 per ai'i-e. Forty acres of the "Fo.\ 
Farm." now John I)icU"s. two miles north with 
no improvements on it. hron.iiiit .$1(10 an acre. 
The "Hrewer Farm." one and a half miles east 
on State sti-eet. sohl for !f;100 per acre, and the 
"Pearson Kann." two and a half miles sonlh- 
east of the s(piare. was pnrchased for .$12") per 
acre. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

KXCK.SSIVK COLD. COMPLETION OF RAILROAD 
TO CHICAGO. QUINX'Y & PALMYRA ROAD. 
NEW B.\NK. WAB.-V.SH FROM CAMP POINT TO 
ILLI.VOIS RIVKR. V.ALUE OF PROPERTY. OR- 
G.ANIZATION OF POLICE. LARGE CISTERNS. 
POLITICAL CHANGES. RISE OF REPUBLICAN 
PARTY. FALL ELECTONS. GROWTH OF BUSI- 
NESS. 

Xaviiration ended on December 24. 1855. and 
the river remained ioe-loeked until March IS. 
1856, when it opened, closing again on Decem- 
ber 8, of this year. The winter of "55-56 was 
very severe, at times bitterly cold, with much 
snow, sleet storms and ice. The weather dur- 
ing the early part of January was particularly 
hai'.sh, the mercury on the 7th falling to 28 
degrees below zero, and the early weeks of 
February were equally cold, the thermometer 
showing 27 below on the 3d of the month, and 
the same again on the Sith and 10th. The stage 
driver came in on the evening of the 3d with 
his mail coach, so chilled as to be speechless, 
unable to handle his team, and had to be lifted 
down from his box. It was a season of much 
distress from this cause, but was, however, a 
very brisk period Tor business. Forty-five 
thousand was the number of hogs reported as 
being packed during the season. 

The especial event of the time was the com- 
pletion of the railroad to Galesburg on the last 
day of January. This had been iinished and 
was operated as far as Avon on tlie 1st of Jan- 
uary and a shoi-t gap between this point and 
that j)ortion of the road that was being built 
from Galesburg southward, was filled in on the 
above date, making the connection with Chi- 
cago comj)leto. It was a jubilee time, and the 
satisfaction and anticipations of the ])eoiile was 
told by the press as follows, with the flaring 
design of a locomotive and train and lu-oad 
headlines of "Through to Chicago. A rail- 
road connection with the Atlantic cities. All 
aboard." 

"We iiave the high satisfaction of announc- 
ing the coini)letion of the Noi'thcrn Cross Rail- 
road. The last rail is upon the ties and the last 



spike is driven, anti anothei- ii-on ai'in reaches 
from the gi-eat west unto the Atlantic! 

"The event is an impoi'tant one and in- 
augurates a new era in the iiistory of C^uincy. 
For years our citizens have been looking with 
an intense interest to the consunnnation of this 
enterprise which was to open, and which has 
opened, to Quincy, a future radiant with every 
pi'oniise of prosperity. A new vitality and a 
new strength has been given to our city, ap- 
liaient in the immense increase of busiiu'ss in 
all departments, transacted during the i)ast 
seas(jn, and in the e.xtensive preparations tiiat 
are making for substantial improvements in the 
way of buildings that are to go up this year. 
We have every reason to congratulate oui'- 
selves upon the present and pro.spective pi"os- 
perity of our beautiful and tlcuirishiug city." 

Xo event ever occurred in the history of the 
place that was hailed with more of universal 
satisfaction than the final construction of this 
road. It was felt to be the one needed resource 
to free traffic and travel from its winter 
thraldom when the river was closed bj' ice, and 
to estai)lisli the place on conditions of equality 
with the surroiuidiug rival cities, and in it the 
citizens had freely embarked their means and 
their hopes. 

Following shortlj' after the above mention of 
the gratification which greeted the completion 
of the road, and showing the results of this 
quickened connection with the east, and how 
they were relished, appears a press notice again 
giving the "acknowledgements of the editor 
and of ilr. Sam'l Holmes to ^Major Holton for 
a fine, fresh codfish, right from ilassachusetts 
Bay, the first arrival of the kind in Quincy. 
After partaking of the same we pronounce it 
a 'creature comfort of the first water,' and 
tender our thanks. " ' All of these, Messrs. 
Holmes, Holton and the editor, were born Yan- 
kees of the most cerulean hue, possibly may 
have been (as has been said of Yankee chil- 
dren) weaned on the above aliment. One maj' 
imagine the gusto with which they and their 
bi'otlier Yankees greeted these "representatives 
of both hemispheres;" as Daniel Webster 
dubbed them, fresh from the ocean, after hav- 
ing been obliged for yeai's of life in the west to 
eat their codfish — salt. 

One enter[)rise coiuiected with Ibis road open- 
ing, merits mention as being am(uig Quincy's 
numy "first tilings," the short-lived pioneer 
here in a line of business which though now 
co-extensive with the land, had at this time, 
but a limited and partial scope or operation, 
compared with what it has become. This was 
the establishnuMit (ui the 1st of January, lis- 
some Quincy parties, of the "Godfrey and 



i64 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



Snow's express" fidiu Qnincy to Chicago. 
These parties had originated this scheme witli 
some success in running their express to St. 
Louis by boat and for awhile made it profitable 
as well as also a convenience to the public 
wiien extended to Chicago, but the heavy hand 
of wealthier companies, controlling more ex- 
tended facilities, soon took possession of the 
business and forced them out of what had 
promised to be a lucrative enterprise. 

The long desired i-ailroad communication 
with Chicago being secured to the great grati- 
fication and convenience of the people of 
Quincy. they at once in the flush of this satis- 
faction began immediately to look around for 
additional railroad advantages. Two projects 
were prominent and promising. One was the 
making of a direct eastern route by a road from 
Camp Point to the Illinois river, to link on to 
the connections of the great road that was 
pushing its construction westward from Toledo. 
This was already arranged for and the project 
was under Avay. The road that had been just 
finished to Oalesburg (The Northern Cross 
R. R.) was intended to be the western portion 
of the Wabash, the road from Camp Point to 
Galesburg. being a branch engrafted on the 
original charter. It was deemed more imme- 
diately important to push the road northwards 
towards Chicago and this had now been 
effected. The other thought was of a western 
road into and across Missouri. This was finally 
done at an early after date, but at an unneces- 
sary and uncalled for cost. The Hannibal and 
St. Joseph R. R. commencing at the latter point 
on the ^lissouri river and crossing the ncn'thern 
portion of the state on a nearly direct east and 
west parallel to its eastern terminus at Hanni- 
bal on the Mississippi, twenty miles south of 
Quincy was constructed under the partial pre- 
text of making a military road, by the con- 
gressional grant of a large body of public lands. 
The system was the same that a few years be- 
fore had been adopted in the charter of the 
Illinois Central, and has since been the basis 
upon which nearly all the great railroads west 
of the Mississippi have been built. At the time 
of its projection it was intended and expected 
(and the alignment of the proposed road was 
favorable and proper therefor) that there 
would be two eastern termini, one at Hannibal 
and one at Quincy : but the latter point, for 
political reasons was dropped out of the bill 
and Quincy had to ultimately construct its con- 
nection from its own resources. Our people 
however were anxious for the road, knew its 
importance and felt very generous and for- 
giving at the time. A company was organized, 
late in the year known as the Quincy & Palmyra 
R. R. Co.. with ex-Mayor Holmes as its presi- 



dent, which proposed to construct a line of road 
from West Quincy to connect with the Hanni- 
bal & St. Joe track at Palmyra, and uj^on this 
scheme the city took decisive action early in 
1857, securing its completion. 

Among the new enterprises of this year was 
the establishment on the 1st of June of the 
"Bank of Quincy," by Boon and McCinnis, 
with a capital stock of "$-200,()(:»n. this being the 
thii-d institution of the kind in the city. Its 
location was at the corner of ilaine and Fourth 
under the Quincy House. Its business was not 
largt for aAvhile but a year or two later on the 
failure of the two older banks, that of Flagg 
L^ Savage and of Moore. Ilollowbush & Co., 
leaving this bank the only financial institution 
in the city, it had the monopoly of such business 
and for a time was successful and prosperous. 
This career was but brief. The failure of ex- 
(Jovei'nor iMatteson, who was its chief owner, 
and other causes, brought about the winding up 
of its affairs after three or four years' ex- 
istence. 

The tliird big hotel was conuuenced at this 
time. There had been the "Quincy House.'" in 
1S36, and the "City Hotel," afterwards the 
"Virginia," about the same time, and now came 
the "Cather House." named for its pn)prietor, 
located on Ilamjishire between Fifth and Sixth 
streets on the site of the old Judge Y(nnig resi- 
dence, which since, much enlarged and with 
the name changed, has become the pojuilar Tre- 
numt. 

The Quincy House which had lately changed 
owners and been closed for a time for repairs 
and a(lditi(Uis to be made, was re-opened by 
Floytl and Kidder from Chicago, and under 
their skillful numagement soon became as pop- 
ular and noted as in its eai'lier days. Another 
city feature was the starting of a bus line run- 
ning to the boat landing and the depot and 
over the city, an enterprise rather crude in its 
commencement, but one that lived and soon 
swelled into permanent existence. Improve- 
ments of all kinds continued. ]\Iany and more 
tasteful houses were erected than had ever been 
before, especially in the eastern part of the city. 
Property values kept on the rise, not at extrava- 
gant figures, but with a steady, healthy ad- 
vance. The corner of Hampshire and Sixth 
was sold for ^1"J5 per front foot. 100 feet in 
depth. A small lot 17 feet front on the south 
side of the public square between Fourth and 
Fifth .streets brought !|;200 per foot. The corner 
(if Jersey and Third .streets, 75 feet front, im- 
proved, sold for .'t!5,500. A large lot on IMaine 
street at the corner of Thirteenth. 175 feet front 
'running back 400 feet to Hampshire sold for 
.+5.000. This was the largest price yet paid 
for property anywhere and was thought to be 



PAST AND PKESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



165 



extra vayaiit liyuiv hut the |)urchaser divided 
the ground into smaller lots and soon realized 
a handsome profit from his investment. Busi- 
ness in all hi-anehes was aetive and satisfaetory. 
A hrief mention, of the transactions of some of 
llie leadiiii;- nuiinifaeturinu' industries will in- 
dieate this. The mills of Quincy have always 
had the highest reputation ahroad foi' the su- 
perior (|uality of tiour whieh they produced, 
theii' bi'ands comnKUidini;- the top fiyure in the 
eastern and sonthei-n markets, and when 
hi-ouyht in eompetition with other brands they 
wei'e in the habit of takinu' the i)remium. The 
business was a steadily growing one and below 
is given with the names of the six mills at tliis 
time running, a summary in round numbers of 
the amount of Hour maiuifactured. and the niun- 
ber of bu.shels of wheat eonsiuned for the year 
closing December 31st, 1856. 

Bbls. Flour. Bus~ls. Wheat. 

Star Mills L'O.OOO loo.ddo 

Castle :\nils liO.OOO lOO.dOO 

Eagle :\rills 12(),0(}U lOU.OOO 

Citv .Mills 40.000 200.000 

Alto :\[ills 10.000 50,000 

Total llO.doO 550.000 

The average price of Hour during the year 
was .'f;5.50 per barrel, making the total value of 
the milling business to have been .$715,000. The 
wagon and plow manufacture had become vei-y 
important and extensive and there were about 
twenty establishments engaged in this business. 
One of these, that of Timothy Rogers, employ- 
ing from :i5 to -40 hands all the yeai' I'ouiul. 
turned out 800 wagons valued at $00,000. and 
1.200 plows worth $8,000. A notable and grow- 
ing business, then as now. was that of the stove 
foundries. The Phoenix Stove Works, which 
was the most extensive in the city, re|)oi'ted the 
making of !),445 stoves of various ])att(>rns. an 
employment of 58 hands and sales for the year 
of $19!), 128.42. This with the other like "con- 
cern.s aggregated the value of store manufac- 
ture at $175,128. The aggregate value of the 
lumber handled by the five lumber yard firms 
footed up to .$251.h50. nu-asuring 8.950.000 feet 
of lumbei'. shingles :i.9.50.dOi). lath and tindier 
1.91d.()()d. In this is not included the home 
luanfacturetl luml>er. The pork packing was 
not as large as the year before. There was a 
snuill increase in the number of those engaged 
in the business, but a falling off in the number 
of hogs and value. The result of the winter's 
work '56-57 was "58.306 hou^s packed, valued at 
$986,492. 

Sevei'al ilisastrous fires occurred in the early 
part of the year, some of them in business aiul 



central sections of the city, one at the north- 
east corner of the public sf|uare. and one farther 
east on Ilamiishii'e street. The loss was severe 
to some of the occupants but the gain was great 
to the city. The sanu; enterpi-ising impidse 
which man\ years before, when the old log 
courthouse caught Hi'e, induced the happy spec- 
tators to throw on more kindling, was gratified 
to see the "old rookeries" go with the prospect 
of their being replaced by better structures. 
Another result of these fortunate misfoi-tunes 
was to increase ])recautious against Hre. 

The leading local events of the year was the 
building, oi- leather the initiation of the build- 
ing of the Wabash railway eastward from Mt. 
Sterling. This pro.ject which has been alluded 
to earlier in these sketches, as being under way 
at the commencement of the year, was i)ut into 
active shape before summer. The proposition 
was made, advocated through the press and 
presented on the 17th of May to the council, 
that the city should subscribe .$200,000 to the 
stock of the railroad projected from Camp 
Point eastv.'ard to the Illinois river known 
as the Qnincy and Mt. Sterling R. R. The 
council votecl favorably and authorized the 
mayor to make subscription to the above 
amount, and ordered an election to be held on 
the 24th of ilay for authority to issue .$200,- 
000 twenty years' bonds, drawing eight per 
cent interest, to be applied to the construction 
of this road. The election was a one-sided af- 
fair. Fifteen hundred and sixty-two votes wei'e 
east, which was a very large representation for 
th;it time at a special election, and all but 
twenty-one of these were cast in favor of the 
subscription. Work was commenced innue- 
diately. Indeed it had been progressing to some 
extent before the city took action upon the mat- 
ter. The whole line was immediately put under 
contract with the condition and promise that it 
wouhl lie completed by December 1st, 1857. 
Its comi)letion was not precisely on time, but 
came nearer thei-eto than most of the railroad 
constructions do. Before its final finish a speck 
of war arose on its line calling for the inter- 
position of muskets and bayonets, this being 
the fourth Avar in which Quincy was engaged. 
Thei'e had been the Black Hawk, the ^lexicau 
;nid I\lormon wars and this next, the '"BroMna 
county war" had its fair share of heroic ad- 
venture of whii-h hereafter, in its time and 
place. 

There was a warm contest at the city elec- 
tion in April but the whigs were successful in 
electing John Wood as ]\Iay(n'. over J. W. 
Singleton, by a nuijority of 44, in a total vote 
of 1,525, which it will be observed was very 
near the sanu' mnnber of votes cast at the 



i66 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



special election ou the railroad subscription six 
weeks later. The whigs also elected Henry 
S. Osboru and Eobei't S. Bennesou as aldermen 
in the First and Third wards over John Abbe 
and H. Vogelpohl, and J. B. iler.ssman, demo- 
crat, was chosen in the Second ward over J. W. 
Brown. The control of the council was still 
democratic. An amtising stir was made later 
in the year by a f»etition being presented to the 
council, with a respectable number of signa- 
tures, asking that an examination .should be 
made into the right of two of the aldermen to 
hold their seats. It was asserted that they 
were not American citizens. As the petition 
gave no names of the aldermen who were thus 
disqualified, the petition went to the wall and 
was not heard of again and Ave believe to this 
day it never has l)een certainly known who was 
pointed at by this iDaper. 

The value of property in the city by the 
assessment of 1856 was reported at $3,668,555. 
On this the tax levy was ordered of one-eighth 
of one per cent for schools and school purposes ; 
three-eights for meeting the railroad debt 
lialiilities and one-half for ordinary expenses, 
and it was ordered also that there should be 
a sufficient levy made on property where the 
gas was in use to pay two-thirds of the expense 
of lighting the streets. The city debt and ex- 
penses so rapidly increasing on account of the 
large railroad s\ibseriptions roused the atten- 
tion of the council to making some effort to pre- 
pare for growing future liabilities, and an order 
was passed authorizing the mayor to make a 
loan for the purpose of establishing a sinking 
fmid, but either from not understanding how to 
make the arrangement or from some other good 
cause the pi'oject languished out of existence 
.just as a dozen similar schemes have done in 
later years. A change was made in the regula- 
tion base or datum for calculating grades, 
which in 1853 had been established at the bench 
mai'k figure of 20, 31-100 feet above low water 
mark. This figure was found defective for en- 
gineering reasons and by resolution the figure 
100 was added. It stood thus for some years 
until perfected by the present plan. The luime 
of Orange street was changed to Eighteenth 
and the council ordered that the streets east 
of this should be, when opened, called Twen- 
tieth and Twenty-fourth, thus, continuing the 
plan of double blocks which had begun at 
Twelfth street but contemplating the possible 
division of these blocks in the future, and the 
designation of the streets so made, by the odd 
number.s as Twenty-fir.st and Twenty-third. 

The first movement was now made towards 
giving .systematic organization and appearance 
to the city police which from small beginnings 



some years before had now grown into fair 
sized proportions. Originally and for some 
time it consisted solely of the city marshal; 
then a night patrol was added and at this time 
it was composed of eight men, a lieutenant, a 
night constable and six watchmen. Uniforms 
of course were not yet to be thought of, but 
the council ordered that members of the force 
should be furnished with a white star to be 
worn upon the lappel of the coat and also with 
a rattle, at the public expense. It was a num- 
ber of years before any addition in the matter 
of giving designation and uniformity of ap- 
pearance to the city police was made. A re- 
vision of the ordinances, this being the third 
since the organization of the city, was ordered 
and completed during the year. The annual 
amoinit of destruction from fire, before men- 
tioned, caused the council to largely increase 
the facilities for its suppression by adding to 
the machinery and resources of the fire de- 
partment, among which was the construction 
of three large cisterns near by three of the late- 
ly built churches. With these, it appears from 
the records, that the city now had seventeen 
public cisterns which had been made during 
that number of years. These were absolutely 
essential and some of them were costly. It 
might be a curious search for any one thus 
disposed to try and ascertain how many of 
these old cisterns, so serviceable and needful 
in their day and constructed with so much of 
care and expense have been abandoned, or were 
destroyed even before the establishment of the 
waterworks .system dispensed with their use. 
Some have been forgotten, or destroyed, with 
no remuneration to the city. 

An advance was made in the character of 
city .iournalism. The five newspapers of the 
year before still lived and tlourished. three of 
them English dailies. The Daily Republican, 
then much the most enterprising paper of the 
place was enlarged, and the Journal, a German 
paper, came out in February as a semi-weekly. 
It was a republican or anti-slavery journal, 
quite ably managed by "Winters and Pfeiter. 
The other German paper, the Courier, was 
democratic. A very good directoi'y of the city 
was prepared for this year by Root, the best 
that had yet appeared. 

A publication was made at the close of the 
year, which attracted interest at the time for 
the reason that then the city was an owner 
in the Northern Cross Railroad and the people 
felt interested in the business progress of the 
enterj)rise. in which they had so heavily in- 
vested. It is also worth seeing as a contrast 
of the railroad business thirty-one years ago 
with that which is done at the present time. 



l'A«T AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



167 



The Nortlu'iii Cross Railroad, completed from 
Quiiu-y to (ialesbui'ir at the comnu'iiceiiieiit oi' 
the year LS.')!), rejiorts for the last six months 
eiidiiif;- December :31st. 18r)6, liiat its receipts 
I'roin iiasseiiuer travel aiiKiiiiil cd to ^|;74.125 ; 
trom freight to ■^133.878. Ill ; from mails, etc., 
.$7,219.82. making a total of .$215,222.79, aud 
that the exi)enses amounted to .$108,643.48, 
leaving- a net earned [irolit of $106,570.31. 

The political record of this year was novel 
and stirring all over the laml. It was a 
transition pcrind in American politics such as 
had never been known before. The rei)eal of 
the Missouri compromise two years before this 
date had loosened all party harness aud caused 
to swing away from their old time moorings 
at the state and congi-cssional elections nearly 
every nortiiern democratic state, such as New 
Hampshire. Iowa. Illinois. Wisconsin. Michigan 
and others that had until iu)w from their 
earliest days unchangeably Hoated the demo- 
cratic flag, and now on the bi'oader arena of 
a presidential contest, these sei)arations con- 
tin\ied and wei'c nationalized into new and per- 
manent pai'ty formations. Almost the entire 
whig party in the northern and western sec- 
tions of the state, with large accessions from 
the democratic party which acted together in 
1854 under the name of Anti-Xebraska. now 
took the name of repiddican. In the extreme 
sciutiicrn and southeastern part, nearly all the 
old whigs became democrats. A portion of the 
whigs formed an organization known as the 
".\mei'ican" oi' "Fillmore pai-ty." which after- 
ward mcTLicd into the i'ei)ub]ican. with which 
it usually .-oalcsced on local matters. In the 
(,)uiiicy congressional district, the defection 
from the democratic party was le.ss than in 
some other sections of the state, and the ])olit- 
ical results showed but little change from 
former years. Elsewhere, many leading re])re- 
sentative men. such as Trundndl. Palmer. Judd. 
Wentworth and otliei-s. seceded from their 
party with a large following, but in this district 
for reasons needless to name, no democrat of 
prominence beyond his county, left his party 
and lines lay nearly as before. 

At the cotnity fall election Buchanan, demo- 
crat, received for ju'esident 3,311 votes to 2.25(i 
for Fremont and 6()2 for Fillmore. There was 
a union of the Fremont and Fillmore voter, on 
a i)ortion of the state ticket and on the county 
otticers. "\V. A. Richardson, who had resigned 
his seat in congress to run for governor, carried 
the city and county over W. IT. Bessell by 1.208 
majority. Hamilton, the democratic candidate 
for lieutenant governor, leading John Wood 
(^who had been nominated for this office to fill 
the VMc-ancy on tin' ticket caused liy the resig- 



nation of Francis Hoffman, who was ineligible^ 
()94 votes. The local democratic ticket general- 
ly was successful by from 500 to 700 majority 
exce[)t in the case of I. .\. .Morris, democratic 
camlidat !■ toi- congress, who fell behind his 
ticket, leading Jackson (Jrimshaw 361 votes, 
while J. C. Davis, the candidate to fill the 
vacancy of Richardson's resignation, received 
a majority over Thos. ('. Sharpe of 760. C. A. 
Warren was chosen for state's attorney over 
S. P. Delano; .Samuel Holmes and M. ]M. Bane 
for re|)resentatives over J. F. Battell and John 
Till.son ; T. W. McPall, circuit clerk, over H. 
V. Sullivan ; John Cadogan, sheriff, over George 
Rhea; the successful parties, all democrats, re- 
ceiving majorities ranging from about 500 to 
7;;0 as above stated. The county vote on call- 
ing a convention to revise the constitution was 
2.840 for to 1.923 against. This proposition 
was defeated in the state. 

Quincy was Jiot in its thirtieth year of ex- 
istence. Its growth, as shown at successive 
periods, i-ose fnun about 20 in the place and 
near neighborhood in 1825 to about 350 in 
1830: to 753 in 1835: 1.850 in 1840: 4.007 in 
1845 : 6.901 in 1850 : 10,754 in 1855, and is sub- 
sequent increase has been up to 14.362 in 1860, 
24.052 in 1870, and 27.268 in 1880. The popula- 
tion of the county, including Quincy and also 
Hancock county, which was then attached to 
Adams, was 292 in 1825: of the conntv. Quincv 
included. 2.186 in 1830: 7.042 in 1835:" 14.476 in 
1S40: 18.399 in 1845; 26.508 in 1850: 34.310 in 
1855: and the population since, the city in- 
cluded, has been reported at 41,323 in 1860; 
56.362 in 1870. and 59.148 in 1880. It will be 
noticed that jirior to 1845. the county iiojiula- 
tion increase was vastly more rapid than that 
of the city, since which period, the city has 
steadily been gaining, and it is probable that 
the census of 1890 will show more than half of 
the population of Adams county tnuubei-ed as 
residents of Quincy. 

There had been a lonu- period of l;'ooi1 navii;'a- 
tion. nearly nine months, with 1.280 arrivals of 
boats, exclusive of the daily Keokuk and St. 
Louis packets. Seventy-five thotisand was the 
estinnited number of packages ti-ansported hv 
livei-, and about 100.000 by rail. 

The coal business, which had but commenced 
during the previous year, amounted to a re- 
ceipt of 15.000 tons. ^lanufactories reported 
increase in tnnnber and in extent of produc- 
tion. Tberi wci'c S furniture establishments 
em])loying 225 haiuls: 5 floui- mills turninii- out 
105.400 ban els. valued at.$685.100 : 4 distilleries 
jiroducing $4:i2.656 worth of sjnrifs: 25 cooper 
shops making near 140.000 barrels, hogsheads. 
etc.. with an aggi-egate value of about $130,000; 



i68 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



12 wagon shops witli a luanufacture of 1.'_'6.") 
wagons, besides j^lows, carts, etc. : 7 harness 
shops; 2 carriage faetories; 4 machine shops 
and foundries : 6 phming mills which worked 
up 400,000 feet of lumber: 4 steam saw mills 
which sawed 470.000 feet of lumber valued at 
$117,500; I large iron and copper factory, the 
business of wliich amounted to -$12,400; 3 soap 
and candle factories whose transactions footed 
up to $41,000; the brick business was extensive, 
16 yai'ds producing 16.070,000 ; one large stove 
foundry whose work alone v,^as $99,128.04, and 
the total of maiuifacturing from these and a 
few other leading establishments was figured 
$2,818.9.52.4.5, and the number of hands aver- 
aging 900. This summary omitted very many 
of the smaller establishments, from Avhich statis- 
tics were difficult to be prociu'ed. 

The general sum of business had nearly 
doubled over that of the preceding year, not so 
much liy the starting of new firms as by the 
expansion of Inisiness of those already existing. 
The grain trade was extensive, 1,227,000 bushels 
of wheat and flour being shipped away, mak- 
ing Quincy in this line of trade next in the 
.state to Chicago : there were also shipped or 
manufactured 417,661 l)arrels of floui'. The ex- 
portation of i)ork was 17,962 barrels: bacon 
1,648 hog.sheads, and 9,500 packages of lard. 
There was a falling off in old staple business 
of pork packing here as generally in the west. 
Trade in dry goods and groceries was large 
and prosperous, five houses exclu.sively in the 
former line, did a business aggregating at $356,- 
410. and from twenty groceries sales were re- 
ported amounting to $540,000. The amount 
done in this line of trade was estimated at not 
less than three-quarters of a million. Lumber 
had become a very extensive business, amount- 
ing to a total in the vear of 1,365,000 feet. 



CHAPTER XXXV 



1857. 

city limit.-^ extended. fin,-vnci.\l. in debt, 
hou.'ies numbered. hospital ground 
boi-PtHt. .';.\loon licen.se question, m.-vny 
buildings go up. rise in re.\l est.4te 
values. first board of trade. money 
p.a.nic. foreign immigr.^tion increases, 
collegiate institution attempted. be- 
coming a real city. 

In the chapter of the preceding year (1856) 
has been given the successive population in- 
crease of the i)lace from its settlement to 1880. 
This now. at the date above (1857), had grown 
from tlie handful of residents, in 1825, to about 
12,000. The expansion of the city in area bad 
not run evenly with its increase of population. 
From 1825 to 1834 it was but a name where the 



court met and the county commissioners as- 
sembled, being simply the county seat located 
on the fractional quarter section of about 157 
acres that had been purchased by the county 
and was controlled like every part of the coun- 
ty, by the county connnissioners. When in 
1834 upon becoming a town antl assunnning an 
indei)endent local government, the limits as 
fixed in its incorporation were the river on the 
west, and the present Jeffeison, Twelfth and 
Vine .streets on the south, east and north. This 
comprised an acreage of a trifle over 800 with 
a ptipulation of about 700. These boundaries 
were unchanged in 1840 when the town became 
a city and so continued until 1847, when what 
is knoAvn as Nevins' Addition, being the 120 
acres lying between Twelfth, Broadway. Eigh- 
teenth and Jersey was attached. This addition 
was made under the provisions of a clause in 
the (U'igiual charter of the city, that any land 
adjoining the city on Ijeing laid off into lots 
and lilocks might be annexed. The population 
at this time was about 5,000. At the legislative 
session in ^lanuary. 1857, the next material 
change was made by moving the north bound- 
ary line three-fourths of a mile farther to the 
present Locust street, and the same line pro- 
longed westward to the river; a half mile east 
to Twenty-fourth street, and a half mile south 
to Harrison and on that line Avest to the river 
taking in some twenty-five hundred acres. This 
rtddition added but little to the population, 
as it was nearly all farm land or unsettled. The 
action met with bitter op|)ositiou from most 
of those living on or owning lands, thus sum- 
maiily lu-inight into the city. They complained 
that the legislative action Avas unfair since the 
subject of annexation had not been mentioned 
at the preceding election, that there was in- 
justice in placing them and their property 
under another jurisdiction without their having 
a voice and vote mi tlie (|uestion. and especially 
that they and tlieir property ought not to be 
subjected to the burden of the already large 
city debt for the creation of which they were 
not responsible. To this last objection the reply 
Avas made that their OAvn property adjacent to 
the city had been A^astly increased in value by 
the expenditures and improvements made in 
the city from Avliich the debts originated. The 
opposition, though it made much personal dis- 
comfort for our members at Springfield, Avas 
fruitless, and the annexation Avas made. The 
city noAV had betAveen 12.000 and 13,000 of 
population. Some ten years later about 120 
acres more Avere added, lying south of Broad- 
Avay to near Y(u-k and east from TAventy-fonrth 
to Thirtieth street, since Avhen the limits liaA'e 
been unchanged, comprising a total area of 
about 3,500 acres. With this extension of the 



PAST AM) PIJKSKXT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



169 



limits, there was an iiierease made in tlie num- 
ber uf wards from three to six. tlius ma king 
the council to consist of twelve aldermen, twice 
the forinei- numlici-. Tlie manner of selecting 
officci's in the iii'w cliMrtci- was left as before: 
the maycir. marshal and aldei-men. bein;:;- 
<-lins(Mi by popular election, and the other offi- 
cials elected by the council. Two years later, 
in IS.')!), a law was passed makMni;- UK.st of the 
city nfticers elect i\c by the pe iplc. At the !irsi 
clci'lion held uuilcr I be new ciiarter in April, 
a lai-ge vote was polleil. the democratie ticket 
succeeding by a large majority. Sylvester 
Thayer receiving l.(Y.]2 votes to (598 for Charles 
A. Savage. The democrats elected as aldermen. 
Thomas Jaspei' and M. ]\[eVay. in the first and 
thii-d wards, over .1. C. Bernai'd and C. .M . 
lirowii. and in the fifth J. H. llicks and .\. .1. 
Lubbe over C. S. I'enlield and C. Meyer, .-ind in 
the sixth, S. ,M . Hartlett and .lohn Sclicll over 
F. FUudis and .lames Woodi'uff. while in the 
second ward .1, H. lirown was chosen over Le\ i 
Palmei'. and in the fourth B. F. Berrian and .\. 
Kellar ovei- .[. Voglepohl and W. E. Wilson, the 
repulilicaiis carrying this new ward. This was 
the first ai)pearance of the rc])ul)lican pai'ty at 
a city election. By a recpiirement of the law the 
aldermen in the new wards, the fcuirth. fifth 
and sixth. wlu>rc two had l)een chosen drew 
lots for the oiu' year and the two year term, 
when ilessrs. Kellar. Lubbe and Schell drew 
the short term and their three associates held 
over for two years. 

The city oi'ganization was completed in the 
council by the re-election of A. W. Blakesly as 
clerk and all the other democratic officials of 
the last year. 

.\ii imusnal aiiiiMinl of iinpin'tanf and pei'ma- 
neiit l)nsiiH^ss came under the consideration of 
the i-(iuncil and was concluded during the yeai'. 
The financial sitinition of the city was far from 
being satisfactory. Its bonded indebted;-ess 
within the past few years had greatly increased, 
amounting now. exclusive of i-ailroad subscrip- 
tions, to over >t:-200.nO0, and with the I'ailroad 
debt to three tinu's this amount, some of it 
overdue, and all rajiidly maturing, while a large 
amount of vouchers were oiitsfaiuling and cii'- 
culating at a heavy discount. Other projects 
which must add largely to tjiis debt, were being 
popularly proposed and the city credit from 
these causes was not b.v any nn'ans in a com- 
memlable sha])e. The I'evenuc was uneqtialtothe 
great increase of cnri'ent ex])enses. The fiscal 
statement for the year (>nding .Mai-cli :n. favor- 
ably prepared as all such statements are. shows 
np the situation. As therein reported, the re- 
ceipts from all sources amnujited to $82,627, 
wliile the expenditures totalized at $03,823.34— 



$ll.()!)(j.34 of whi<'h was in nn|)aid city 
vouchers. Ther(! was owing to the school fund 
$11.3;")!). 8!), which as reported by a connnittee 
of the council, "had been used for other pur- 
poses"" by the city (a mild expression synony- 
nM)Us with misappropi'iation ^ and now. to tem- 
poi'arily meet this dcm;ind, a ten year ten per 
cent boiul lor the above stated amount was 
ordei'cd to be issued. In this comu^ction it may 
be nn-ntioncd that the perversion of the school 
moneys ilid not cease for several yeai's and was 
finally adju.sted. when the delinquent amount 
h;id I'cached to about $24,000 by the eonncil 
ceding to the school boai'd all such title as it 
])(>sscssed to realty occujiied and used or to be 
used for educational puri)oses within the city. 
This comprehended the Fraidvlin, .lefferson and 
Webster school houses, and adjacent gi'ounds. 
This was a tVrrtunate arrangement for the 
school interests but somewhat sacrificial to the 
city which by its inciu'rect autl pcrliaps it might 
be called ilb»ga| luaniimlation of school aft'airs 
\vas comi)elle(-l finallx' to pay np at a much 
heavier cost than would ba\'e been in the pur- 
suance of a more proper and i)rudent course. 
The carelessness in these matters was shown 
by the fact that about this time it was found 
that the treasurer's record account of the city 
with the schools, was missing, and an estimated 
balance of $3,300, these beino- the last figures 
remembered, was agreed npon as due the school 
fund fi'om the city. The three schools above 
named were the only ones in existence at this 
tinu' and were in prosperous shape, well man- 
aged and attended. They employed 14 teachers 
and reported an annual attendance of about 
1,(100 pupils. The cost of carrying on the 
schools for the year ending June 30, 1857. was 
reported at $5,957.82. 

Thei-e had been an attempt made at economy 
during the past year. The street impi'ovements, 
genei-ally the largest expense item, was rela- 
tively less than usual but other demands in- 
cident to a young and rapidly growing city, 
such as police, paupers, salaries, fire depart- 
nu'ut and contingent, swelbn! the tot;d to 
foi'mer figures. And then piled on these, were 
the cost of bonds taken uj). some ,$35,000 and 
raili'oad bond interest $14,000, which made an 
easy account foi' the deficit of nearly $12,000, 
in the year's business, .\dditioiuil to all this, 
was the .$5,000 of matni'cd bonds unpaid, and 
nearly $40,000 matui-ing this year with an al- 
most ecpial ann>unt which would become due 
in each of the half dozen following yeai's. The 
outlook was luit encouraging, and the city Avas 
just beginning to realize the weight of its debt. 
It had assToued burdens without proper pro- 
vision for carrving them. These burdens 



170 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



seemed ueedful at the time to assume and 
nltimatelj' brought vast advantage, but were 
burdens none the less for a hmg aftertime. To 
tide over these aeeruing liabilities and tem- 
porarily restore the city credit, a loan was 
ordered by the council and an issue of $75,000 
of bonds authorized to provide for the same. 
This, of conrse, became an addition to the 
permanent city debt, which was now to be 
further increased by the subscription of $100.- 
000 to the yuiney and Pahiiyra Railroad. The 
Hannibal and St. Joe road was now nearl\- 
completed. It was constructed under govern- 
ment aid as a military road, by a large donation 
of public lands. The desire had been that it 
should branch at Palmyra with one or two 
termini on the east, one at Hannibal, the other 
at Qnincy. The plan through the influence of 
political complications failed and it cost Quincy 
$100,000. A company -was organized to build 
this connection and having obtained the neces- 
sary authority from the legislature, applica- 
tion was made to the city council for a sub- 
scription. The council voted a subscrij^tion of 
$100,000 subject to an endorsement by the 
people. The election was held on the ith of 
April, resulting in a vote of 942 for and 11 
in ©Imposition. Upon this an issue was ordered 
of bonds to the above amount ruiniing 20 years 
with 8 per cent interest and the road was 
speedily built. Palmyra also voted $30,000 to- 
wards its construction. This was the last in- 
vestment of the city in railroads until about 
twelve years later. 

This $100,000 subscription to the Quincy and 
Palmyra railroad was not completed as origi- 
nally suggested and intended. The first prop- 
osition Avas that Quincy should give $100,000 
and that Palmyra and the Missouri counties 
interested would give an equal amount, one- 
half of which ($50,000) was to be voted by 
Palmyra. On this expectation and understand- 
ing, the election was ordered by the council. 
The outside interests did not come up to their 
promise but Quincy did. taking- as usual the 
heavy end of the log, and the road was rajmidly 
built mainly on the basis of the city subscrip- 
tion and the credit given by the same. The 
Qiiincy and Toledo road, from Camp Point to 
Meredosia. to which the city had voted $200,- 
000. was during this year, luider tlie active 
management of (ieneral Singleton, placed 
imder contract in May, rapidly pushed forward 
and so far finished to Mt. Sterling by Christ- 
mas that the cars were then running and a 
pleasant celebration was held at that place 
largely attended by people from Quincy. The 
construction of this road was by the aid and 
interests of the Toledo and Wabash with which 
it became consolidated a few vears later. 



The a.ssessed valuation of city property for 
the year was $.3,020,895. On this was levied a 
tax of one-eighth of 1 per cent for school and 
one-half of 1 per cent for ordinary purposes to 
which was added a three-eighths of 1 per cent 
for railroad jjurposes and later again of 1 per 
cent special tax to meet the interest on the 
Toledo R. R. bonds issued in January of this 
year. It appeared to be the idea of the coun- 
cil in these times, to provide by special tax for 
the accruing interest on each separate issue of 
railroad bonds. This was a praiseworthy plan, 
which if it had been carefully carried out 
might have lightened the load which the city 
was compelled to shoulder with its great pile 
of overdue and maturing bonds, swelled by 
years of delinquent interest. 

The entire debt now was $707, (UK). 73 of which 
.$500,000 was from railroad subscription and all 
of this except about $11,000 drawing inter- 
est. The estimated revenue for the year 1857 
was placed at $75,000, a dark outlook, when the 
resource and liability figures were placed 
alongside each other in contrast. 

The enumeration of the houses, an essential 
in every city, was now for the first time ordered 
by the couiU'il. Their first resolution formulat- 
ing this project, was an amusing absurdity. It 
prescribed 1hat each 25 feet of lineal curbstone 
measure should constitute a number, that Front 
street should be the base for streets running 
east and west, the figures alternating across 
the street evei'y 25 feet, and this part of the 
plan lias continued excepting that some dozen 
years later the convenient Philadelphia sys- 
tem, as it is called, was adopted which makes 
the initial figures of each house nmnber to 
ciu-respond with the initial figures of the street 
bounding the block. 

So far all was cori-ect, but the other part 
of the council resolution, established a double 
base for streets running north and south, one 
at Broadway and the other State street, with 
a mixed prescription for affixing of duplicating 
luuiibers which would have puzzled the oldest 
inhabitant to have found his way into or out 
of the city had he looked to these figures for 
guidance. It proved so practically absurd and 
confusing when put in operation, that it was 
abandoned and Jlaine street made the base from 
which to number north and smith respectively. 
This enumeration of houses was done, iinder a 
contract with the council, by ilcEvoy and 
Beatty. who at the same time prepared a city 
directory. It was crude compared with later 
publications of the kind, but Avas by far the 
most thorough and complete of an.v that to this 
date had been prepared. All the earlier direc- 
tories, contained the same skeleton sketch of 
the town settlement, a few oft-told old stories 



PAST AND PRESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



171 



anil vt'i-\' iiicuiui)lete lists of iiiiiiies with great 
lack also of accurate designation of residences, 
etc. This book aini)lificd all tlint was valuable 
in earlier directoi-ies in regiii-il tu rity history, 
goveruiiient. luisiness anil general condition, 
and contained about 4. .">()() names with resi- 
dence and Ijusiiiess carel'ully located by num- 
bers. 

From this enumeration of 4,500 the estinuite 
is a fair one that the i)opulation of nearly 11.- 
000 in 1885 by the state census had now grown 
to above 12. ( 1011. This was proven by the 
census of ISfiO. tliree years later, when it was 
reported at 14.:it)"J. 

This 1857 directory, so correct and concise 
in mo.st particulars, fell into the stereotyped 
error of all such publications, by assuming 
the population of the place as 20,000. This 
tendency to over-count po|)ulation is common 
with census takers and reporters, anil always 
tinds a ready endorsement in beliefs. 

There were twenty established churches at 
this time in the city, eighteen Protestant and 
two Catholic. Services in fourteen of these 
were conducted in the Knglish language, and 
in the others, in Cerman. 

The city had made a few yeai's before, the 
very judicious purchase of eight acres of land 
lying south of and adjacent to Woodland Ceme- 
tery, known as the Hospital Grounds. There 
was no decided idea as to what .special use 
this ground .should be a|)plied to. but after some 
disagreement in the council, the "Poor House" 
buildirig was oi-dered to be erected at a cost 
of about .$2,700, and the ground became de- 
voted to that use and also for a work house 
some time later. 

For the first time there came up in the 
council for consideration the liquor or saloon 
license (iuesti(Hi in the sluipe of a local oi)tion. 
such as then had not even a name, although 
the principle has now become a national issue. 
Petitions were poured into the council protest- 
ing against the granting of grocery or saloon 
licenses, (which mciint the same) on portions 
of a street or in blocks where a majority of the 
property owiu'rs or those doing other business 
there ()l)jected. The council took the position 
that they would l)e governed by such remon- 
strances in the matter of granting grocei-y 
licenses. ;ind adhered to this restrictive policy 
tenaciously, except when, as very often, they 
didn't. It is a suggestive fact c<unu'cted with 
this matter, arid with the council legislation 
then (and which colors all legislation on this 
subject) that the grocery license for the pre- 
cedinir year amounted to $4,721. being more 
than the amount received fi-om all the other 
licenses condiined. proving itself to be the most 
fruitful source of revenue obtainable by the 



city, and of course to be gently handled for 
expediency's sake. 

The local improvements, permanent in kind, 
boili public and private, for which Qinncy has 
always been especially noted, went on the same 
as heretofore. As indicative of the extent to 
which iiriproxciiient luul been carried, a discus- 
sion came up during this year, to which the 
writer was a party, and from it a wager was 
made as to the amount of brick sidewalk then 
existing in the cit\-. On this a calculation and 
measurenu'ut taken, showed that there were 
thirty-three miles of such walk constructed, al- 
most all of it twelve feet in width and in some 
cases sixteen feet wide. No other city in the 
United States, great or small, old or new, at 
this time was equally improved in this respect, 
and this feature continues. This extensive sys- 
tem of street improvement and completion, 
originated with the fiist years of the city, par- 
tially from necessity, and due also to a spirit 
of enterprise. The broken nature of the ground 
compelled an unusual amount of work in the 
foi'm of levelling and making passable the 
thoroughfares, and these again demanded to 
be i)rotected by the laying of gutters and side- 
walks, and this custom spread into ])ortions of 
tlic city farther perhaps than there was an 
ai-lual need for such woi-k to be done at the 
time. Seven streets, Broadway, Vermont, 
Hampshire, Maine, State and Delaware were at 
this time passably graded from the top of the 
hill to the river and during this year the grade 
of Jersey was completed. 

The systematizing of the city suiweys and 
grades progressed under the direction of the 
city engineer, who reported having placed 250 
stone moiunnents as points of reference at the 
street intersections. The "Public Square." 
Avhich for twenty or more years had known 
no other name. v,-as now formally, by resolu- 
tion of the council, christened Wa.shington 
Park. Private improvements, both in amount 
and value, far surpassed what had been made 
any former year. Nearly all of the costly 
and imposing four-story .structures of the south 
side of ifaine between Fourth and Fifth, facing 
the square were erected during this season. 
The two fine buildings of E. K. Stone, imme- 
diately east of the Quincy House, the Lomolino 
biulding. now owned by John Leaman. a few 
doors farther east, by far the most expensive 
constructed edifice in the city, and the most 
elaborately finished, costing nearly $20,000. and 
the four-stor.y houses of Flagg and Savage, 
at the corner of ilaine and Fifth, were all com- 
l)leted and occupied early in the fall. The 
rental of each of these last named houses was 
.$2,000 per annum. The IMetz buildini;-. on '^^aine 
street east of Fifth, was now built, aiul the 



172 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



"Hess House," since become the "Occidental," 
was enlarged so as to become the largest and 
most commodions hotel in the place. 

Equal with the many improvements made. 
was the transfer and sale of property to an 
extent such as had not before been known, and 
at rates progressively higli. A somewhat 
lengthj^ recital of some of tliose is worthy of 
note, as showing how well known property in 
the city was valued then in comparison with 
former and subseciuent rates. The purchases 
were made mostly by our own people, but in 
a member of cases by speculators from abroad. 
The fifty feet at the southeast corner of ilaine 
and Fifth streets (a short inioccupied lot) sold 
for .i<3()5 per front foot. The small lot at the 
southeast corner of Hampshire and Fifth, with 
the brick house on it, still standing, brought 
$7,705. These and many other of the sales 
made during this year were at public auction. 
A lot on Fifth street, immediately south of the 
old courthouse ground. 25 feet front, was pur- 
chased for $430 per foot, this being the higliest 
price lip to this time which had ever been paid 
for city i^ropcrty. Tlio Tiiayer building, a 
three-story brick at the corner of Maine and 
Fourth, embracing 50 feet ground, where the 
public library building is now being erected, 
was bought by James Parker for .$15,000. On 
Front street at the corner of ]\Iaine two large 
brick warehouses, these also being the prop- 
erty of the Thayers, who failed about this time, 
sold for $11,000 cash. The quarter of the block 
at the southwest corner of BroadM^ay and Fifth, 
then and ever since used as a lumber yard, 
changed owners for $"20,000. In other parts 
of the city farther away from business centers 
many sales were made at correspondingly high 
figures. In Moulton's addition the half of two 
large lots was sold for $2,180, the entire two 
lots having been purchased the year before for 
$2,000, property on the corner of Vermont 
and Twelfth, $22.00 per front foot. Ground 
on the hillside on JIaine. west of Third, brought 
$170 per foot. A large sale was made of ground 
on Ninth and York for $5,000 to the Dick 
brothers, which became the foundation of their 
great brewery. Outside of and near the city 
the same high rate of value ruled, and many 
transfers were made. Eighty acres, a mile and 
a half north of town, which had been pur- 
chased but a few Aveeks before for $16,000 was 
offered at auction and sold at an advance of 
nearly $4,000. There never before, except about 
1835-36. when the town was comparatively 
small, has been recorded so lively a traffic in 
property based on the growing prospects of 
the place, and most of these investments, like 
those of the earlier date, proved remunerative. 

The widening business of the city stimulated 



the idea of forming a "Board of Trade," an 
institution always of value to a commercial city 
and of which in like name or character Quincy 
has had so many. This was the first organiza- 
tion of the kind. It was formed in May with 
C. M. Pomeroy as president and a large mem- 
l)ership of most of the prominent business men 
at the city. It centered interest, was useful, 
and like several other such of later existence 
lasted but a year or two, from some fatality 
which seems to unfortunately attach to such 
associations, and is noticeable chiefly as being 
the first enterprise of the kind formed in the 
city. 

The business showing of the year was active 
and generally prosperous notwithstanding the 
failure of the largest business house of the city 
(the Thaj-ers, who.se store, mill and distillery 
comprehended much the most extensive oper- 
ations, that up to this period had been carried 
on in the place) and also the suspen.siou of two 
leading banking houses. The winter bvisiness 
of 1856-57 was fair, though less than usual in 
some liranches. Navigation had been free for a 
portion of the season. It was suspended by the 
river being frozen, from December 8th to the 
15th of the last year, was resumed at the latter 
date, and continued until the early part of Jan- 
uary when the ice became fast, and so stayed 
until the 18th of February when it finally 
opened for the season, affording good boating 
facilities luitil the last week in November, then 
became very low, but remained open with only 
occasional running ice throughout the follow- 
ing Avinter. 

The season was a memorably cold one. On 
the 9th of February occurred one of the most 
severe snow storms within memoi'y. followed by 
rain, sleet and an intense cold, covering the 
country with ice and almost suspending travel, 
even on many of the railroads. Springfield 
could only be reached from Quincy by going 
liy the way of Meudota and Bloomington. 

The old staple winter industry of the place 
showed some falling off from the record of pre- 
vious years. About 38,300 hogs only aggregat- 
ing in weight of product 8,989,462 poiuids were 
packed during the winter, some 5,500 less in 
number than were put up in the year before, 
although not so much less in Aveight. This or 
nearly the same percentage of decrease in the 
pork jiroduct of the year. Avas general in the 
Avest at this time. Other manufacturing inter- 
ests eA'idenced increasing business and success. 
The stoA'e foundry business among others, had 
already groAvn to be very extensiA'e, furnishing 
a large area of country, and employing many 
Avorkmen. One, the Phoenix stoA^e Avorks of 
Comstock & Co., reported as its annual busi- 
ness, running into the AA'inter of 1856-57, liaA^- 



PAST AND I'KESENT OF ADAMS COUNTY. 



173 



iiig made of cookino- stoves 5.518, lieatiii-;- 
.stoves 1.488. i>arloi' stoves 2.460. a total of !». 
45(). in the manufacture of which they used 
1)87 tuns of eoal. 2U.U00 bushels of coal aiiil 
coke and 200 cords of wood, eiiiployinu an 
average of (JO workmen whose waj^es !iiiiount<Ml 
to $.{(1,232.42. and the a.iri,'re>;ate business of 
the tiriu was over $100,000. This was the larj;- 
est of the several stove foundries, but work 
was done by ulliers in e(|ual proportioti, 
Muionntint;- aito^iether to about .$200,000 of 
niannlaetnre of this kind in the city. 

The '"(^uincy Savings and Insurance ('mri- 
pan\" which becanu^ the First National liaid< 
of (^uiney. oi)ened as an e.Kchanye and bank- 
ing house, early in August. This made the 
fourth batdving house now in operation, the 
others l)eing the "Bank of Qtdncy. " and the 
two firms of "Flagg & Savage"" and "iloore, 
llollowbush (5c Co."" The two lattei' failed a 
few weeks hiter. (^uinc.v had now its first ex- 
perience in a financial disaster iind |)anic, but 
somewliat sti-angely, though there was uiucli 
of excitement, business operations generally 
were but slightly affected. There was a money 
panic all over the country in the fall, especially 
wild in the west, and nuiny failui'es, all the 
great banking houses of St. Louis being forceo 
to suspend ;ind bringing tlowu with them 
houses with which they were associated or 
which were dependent upon them. This told 
with some effect in t^nincy. Otu' of the indirect 
caTises for this coiulilion of affairs, was the 
horde of private state (-bartered banks which 
flooded the country with their handsomely pic- 
tured promises to pay, and which were scat- 
tered everywhei'e with most christian benevo- 
lence but nnchristianlike were finally found to 
be without any redeemer. The monetary jninics 
and business depressions in all past time may 
be mainly tracetl at almost every period of 
disaster to these home-made haid\s of state law 
parentage. There had been no sus|)icion of in- 
solvency attaching to any of the Qinncy bai d<s 
though failures elsewhere were daily being 
jjublished. when the town was surprised on 
the 2Sth of Septendier to see the notice on the 
door of IMoore. llollowbush i& Co. of their sus- 
pension and at the same time was sjiread. the 
news of the failure of S, ijc \V. I*. Thayer. A 
co-incident case occurred alxuit Iwi'iity years 
later when the failure of the largest business 
house of the cit.v bi-ought with it the sus])en- 
sion of the largest baid<. The house of Flagg 
(& Savage was eipially . i- still more ci-iiipled by 
+he failure of tlu> Thayers but held the con- 
fidence of the public in its solvency to sudi an 
extent tbat the run upon them was slight, but 
about six weeks later it was compelled to (dose 
doors, i-esumiug after a short p(>riod of sus- 



pensi(Ui. but finall.\' gave \i\) and permanently 
(dosed. The failui'e (d' these tln<'e houses was 
l'(n' M long time felt by many but caused no 
marked depression in general prosjjcrity. 

The permanent failure of the banking house 
of Flagg & Savage whicdi occurred several 
uiunths latei-. and after their temporary re- 
sumption, was a iiiui-h regretted atfair. While. 
as l)(d'ore stated, the (dosure of this and the 
other banking houses had no serious influence 
on the current Ijusine.ss. for the reason that the 
city was in healthy progress and its business 
was |)eculiarly strong and solvent, yet the 
br-eakiiig down of this baid< was generally felt 
to be a personal and ])ublic sorrow and mis- 
fort luic. 

It was the first [)i'i\ate banking enterpi'ise 
of the city. Its |)roprietors were free, gener- 
ous, lavish indeed (d' their and to whatever was 
of a i)ublic interest or a pi-ivate (diaritable aj)- 
peal. and the |)ersonal i)oi)ulaiMty of the insti- 
tution and its managers was well TUgh univer- 
sal. At the time of their first suspension, so 
strong was theii- hold upon the public con- 
fidence and sympathy that a notice was pid)- 
lished. sigiu'd by unite a number of the wealth- 
iest citizens, expi'essing faith in their sol- 
vency and offering the assistance of theii' in- 
dividual credit and means. Xo such guarantee 
was made at the time of their final failui'c in 
1860. It would liave been useless if given and 
was not asked fm-. 

The year was a soinewhat jx-culiar one in its 
(dimatic conditions, with varying temperature 



a no 



! less healthv than usual 



The city was 
sonu'what severely sc(Mirg('(l and seai'('(l still 
more by a smallpox visitation during miiU 
summer and again in the fall. The matter was 
met and jiromptly provided against, by unusual 
system (111 the pai't of the city aidhorities. or 
rather by the mayor. Mr. Thayer, the sanu? 
whose finaiudal failui'e occuried about this 
time, wiio ;is may(u-. however, proved to be one 
(d' the nu)sl capable and efficient business men 
that ever filled the jjosition. 

\u e|)isode of this year was a rattling earth- 
(piake sluuds in July, whicdi pei'vaded the Alis- 
sissi|)|)i Valley and was pi'ononnced by (dd in- 
habitaids as the most severe of any that had 
shaken up tlie eountiy since the famous great 
eartlKpudvc of ISll. The names of a number 
(d' well known (dtizens passed to the death ndl 
of the year. .Vmong these in ^Fai'idi. was the 
Rev. Joseidi Kunster. of the (iei-man Catholic 
(diurcdi. who had been resident here for a ninii- 
ber (d' yeai's and becanu' more than usiudlv 
well kiiiiwn and influential generalLv. Mi-. 
Alexander Savage, a former citizen or Elaine 
and for several years resident in Quincy. died 
ill the bitter part of July at the age of 77. ilr. 



174 



PAST AND PRESENT OP ADAMS COUNTY. 



Levi Wells, one of the few remaining real 
pioneer founders of county and city, ended an 
honored life on July 11th, aged 6i. ^Ir. Wells 
had long been an Illinoian, dating his citizen- 
ship farther back than any other of the old 
settlers. He was born in Connecticut in 1793 ; 
came to Illinois (which was then a territory) 
in 181S. a year before the advent of his two 
later life pioneer associates. Wood and Keyes. 
both • f whom survived him. He came to Adams 
county (then Pike) in 1824; was in 1825 elected 
one of the first three county commissioners, 
with Willard Keyes and Peter Journey. This 
office he held during the fir.st three years of the 
county history and early times of Quincy. He 
■was averse to public positions, and held no 
other in after life. He early in life engaged in 
mercantile business, and was the possessor of a 
large property in and adjacent to the city. 
He was of a decided religious nature, being one 
of the founders of the First Presbyterian (now 
the First Congregational church) and of the 
present Presbyterian church, in which he was 
the leading elder from its organization until 
his death. His philanthropy kept pace with 
his religion and his charities, though unob- 
trusive, Avere many and judicious, and his long 
life here was attended with public and personal 
respect, as was his death, with regret. 

A marked increase appeared about this 
period, one that continued for some time after, 
in the foreign immigration, which had rela- 
tively fallen off of late years. This was almost 
entirely German. The earliest foreign en- 
graftment to any great extent upon the popula- 
tion of the place had been of Germans, about 
1834, a few as early as 1833, and the immediate 
succeeding years. In 1836 and thence along 
until 1839-40. a very large settlement of Irish 
came in. induced by the state, public improve- 
ments and the railroad labor required here at 
the time. These mostly remained, and a large 
percentage among the Iri.sh families of the city 
now count back their coming to that date. 
Later on, about 1840. and for ten to fifteen 
years, a steady stream of German immigration 
flowed in, very largely some years, which had. 
however, began to gradually decrease, and 
now in 1857, for some reason not apparent 
here, it revived again. One .steamer in Hay 
lauded one hundred emigrants who had shipped 
direct from Germany for Quincy, and other 
arrivals in like character and number came 
in from time to time during the season. It 
was an odd, though it had become a eonunon 
sight, a few years before, to find in the early 
morning, the entire public landing covered by 
these families with their multifarious house- 
hold goods of every description, many of them 
cumbrous articles, whose bulk and weight made 



the cost of transportation to infinitely exceed 
their value, and perhaps among the scores of 
newcomers not a single person Avas able to 
speak or understand tlie language of the land 
Avhere they had come to make a home. 

The political record of the year after the 
spring election, had little of intei'est, there 
being no general election in the state, except 
for county officers. The only important federal 
office in the city, that of postmaster, Avas filled 
by the reappointment of Austin Brooks, editor 
of the Herald. At the fall election a so-called 
"independent" ticket for county officers Avas 
put into the field in opposition to the nominees 
of the democratic party. Nominally "inde- 
pendent." it Avas composed of and supported 
by the Avhigs, Avho, though their party organ- 
izati((n Avas abandoned, had not as yet chrys- 
talized completely into the republican party, 
of Avhich they then and since formed the main 
numerical strength in the north. The election 
resulted in the usual democratic success. W. 
H. Gather (re-elected), Alex. Johnson, and 
AVilson Lane being chosen for county judge, 
clerk and treasurer, respectively, over W. S. 
Lee. John Field and Thomas Durant. by about 
700 majority. Avith the exception of the vote on 
clerk. Field, a A-ery popular man, carrying the 
city by nearly 250 votes, though beaten in the 
entire county by about the same figures. The 
general democratic majority in the city aver- 
aged about 100. The vote of the city at this 
election was 1,327, that of the county (city in- 
cluded) 3,870. There was a surprising falling 
off in the vote given at this election, as com- 
pared with that of the last year, and also at 
the mayor's election in April, proA'ing hoAV 
utterly defective and unreliable election re- 
turns are as a basis for estimating population. 
The population of both city and county Avere 
unciuestionably rapidly increasing, yet the 
county vote of 6,229 in November, 1856, had 
noAv dropped nearly tAvo-fifths, and that of the 
city, Avhich anu)unted to 1,730 eight months 
before, fell aAvay nearly one-fourth. 

The periodical movement Avas nuide toAvai-ds 
the establishment of a collegiate institution, a 
charter for that purpose having been obtained 
at the last session of the legislature. The 
leaders in the project and trustees of the pro- 
]iosed school or college Avere from among the 
most liberal and representative men in the 
city. John Wood. Willard Keyes. Samuel 
Holmes. E. Grove, R. S. Benneson. S. C. Sher- 
man. II. Foote, G. Ij. King. S. IT. Emory, W. 
]MeCandlish. J. R. Dayton. O. H. BroAvning, L. 
Kingman. L. Bull and C. A. Savage, and the 
Rev. J. J. ]Marks. pastor of the Presbyterian 
church, Avas selected as the president of the 
institution. 



I'AS I A.Ni) I'KESENT OF AUAMS COUNTY. 



175 



It was tlu' (lesiiiii that tlu'i-f sluiuld be two 
departiiieuts (male and feiiialei sei)aratel>- ln- 
eati'd, but to be under one yeueral sui)ervisi()n 
cif eliai'y:e. A blucU of Jiround. at the soutlieast 
eornei- of State and Twelfth sti'eets. was 
donated by tlovernor Wood, and one also by 
Mr. Kej'es, on Eighth and Vine, eouditioued on 
the .sum of $75,000 being subscribed by citizens. 
The enter])rise wa.s not completed as oi-igiiially 
intended. l)Ul was a partial success, resulting 
in the support of two very e.xcelleut schools 
for several years, each oi a much higher pre- 
tension and proficiency than any that had pre- 
viously existed in the city. 

.\niu.sements kept even ii-wo with all thi> 
other sevei'al advaiu-es. A I heal re with regu- 
lar performances six evenings in the week, 
was the leading contribution in this line. It was 
located in the city hall and continuiMl (lurinu 
nearly all the earlier portion of the year. The 
management was in the hands of Thomas Duif, 
the veteran actor; was well conducted and pop- 
ular, giving far more satisfaction to the public 
than it pi-obably did in ;i financi;d sense to its 
proi)rietor. 

Heside till' theatrical amusements befmc 
mentioned, other lil<e uayeties and attractions, 
such as are incident to a city, were frequent 
and continuous during the year, far nuire than 
at any previous jiei'iod. ^lilitary and firemen 
and society disi)lays and parades, and excur- 
sions to lu'igh boring cities and incursions of 
similar associations to Quincy. were of com- 
mon oeeurrence. 

The city had taken ;i Ioul;- step forward in 
metropolitan appearance. While it would not 
be kind to say that its peoi)le put on city airs, 
it was however the evident fact that the place 
had assumed a city air, such as was observable 
now for the tir.st time. The many and handsome 
buildings erected during this and the last yeai'; 
the liberal improvements and ex])eiulitni'es 



which the city had nuide; the enlarged variety 
of oecuiiatiuns which had been rapidly estab- 
lished ; the prosperous show of business with its 
accompanying tlush of money iind free expen- 
ditures of the same, and largely the elfect of 
the increased and (piickened facilities for travel 
and connnunication with other places near or 
di.stant. which invited also a corresponding 
advent of strangers and passing travelers to 
the city, far in excess of what had ever been, 
these were among the causes which gave the 
city its peculiarl\- li\-ely and attractive a|)pear- 
ance. 

It would be .safe perhaps to say that there 
were ten visitors during this year to one com- 
ing into the i)lace five years before. It was 
not longer than that jieriod past, when, when- 
ever a stranger nunle his a|)pea ranee, the whole 
edninniiiity, xilhiLic like, would nute his com- 
ing, in(|uire and .soon fintl out who he was, 
what he was after, etc. Not so now. This 
year marked a social change in that respect 
which was ])ermanent. People came and went 
with as little notice, unless some peculiarity 
attached to them, as they did in London or 
New York, or do in Quincy today. A new era 
IurI now connnenced. With its landing alive 
with activity and laden with piles of shijjment 
for its daily line of steann-rs: with its jmnctual 
railroad whistle, telling the time and ;dso the 
coming and going of travelers by the score; 
its city nuisance and necessity, the noisy but 
convenient "bus line to all parts of the city"; 
its hotels thronged with guests, and, influenced 
by all the new surroundings, the people as- 
suming, unconsei(uisly to themselves, a more 
quick, i)rompt manner and action, personally 
and in business. Quincy now. thirty-two years 
fi-oin the date of its foiuiding, seventeen years 
subsequent to its incorporation as a city, fully 
exhibited the characteristics of such, and fell 
itself to be oiu\ 




H 137 89 i» 












■ .V 






* .-dae,-, -*,^^,*' ..^.. *,^^** ..^-, %./ ..^.. **^y .-affo-, **.„,/ 









.0' V*^'*'"^**' 











•n^o^ 












i°-n*.. 











4r 






HECKMAN 
BINDERY INC. 



,,.^^ NOV 89 

it3# N. MAWCHESTER. 
^«y INDIANA 46962 




















•^^0^ 



' . . • ' 




■^^^ .'•-•-•- 



